


The Things We Believe In

by PhantomDreamshade



Series: A Lifetime of Adventures [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adult Frisk, Alternate Universe - Underfell, Ambiguous-Gender Frisk, Because Frisk has aged naturally over timelines, Because this is Underfell, Fluff and Angst, For the most part, Happy Sans, He has his angsty moments, Multi, Strong Language, Underfell will get dark but not gruesomely so, ambiguous-gender chara, rating is mostly for language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-04-26 16:21:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 23,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14405910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomDreamshade/pseuds/PhantomDreamshade
Summary: Frisk has finally gotten their monster family the ending they deserve. But with a self-imposed penance hanging over their head for past mistakes, Frisk has decided to go AU-hopping - these other worlds are the result of their many resets, after all, and their final confrontation with Chara. It's their responsibility to set them free. Unfortunately, Underfell wasn't their idea of an 'adventure.' This place will test the resolve of their philosophy on life.Meanwhile, back in Undertale, the monsters are integrating into surface life. Thanks to some friends in high places Ebott Town is more or less safe, but the world at large hasn't adjusted quite as well and enemies to the monsters' happiness lurk around every corner. They'll have to rely on each other to keep their people and their new home safe.It's a brave new world for everyone - but without Frisk as a safety net, the monsters are on thin ice. And without the monsters, Frisk is struggling to find any light within the darkness of Underfell. Was this happy ending really built to last?





	1. Just Another Fall

**Author's Note:**

> This series is a sequel to another series I wrote called A Glimpse of Sun. If you want the full context of the story and all the characterization up until this point, you should read it, but it was my first big writing project and parts of it are... meh. I will attempt to write this story in a way that you don't HAVE to read A Glimpse of Sun in order to understand it and give short summaries in the author's notes if necessary. 
> 
> Also, be advised that the most important relationships in this story will be between Frisk and their monster family back in Undertale, even though this is an Underfell fic. I will definitely be developing the Underfell monsters as well, but this story isn't all about them.
> 
> So, without further ado...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk begins their first AU adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Endnotes will contain spoilers for A Glimpse of Sun, so if you haven't read that series and still plan to, avoid them.

“Thanks again for everything, Gaster,” Frisk said to the semi-transparent skeleton welcoming them into the grey doorway in Waterfall. “I’m ready for you to take me to my first adventure!”

Gaster smiled at them. “I NOT YOU BE WILL BRINGING,” Gaster said. Now that he had completely left the material world, he had difficulty keeping his words in order. “NEW A MINE OF FRIEND TAKING WILL BE YOU.” Frisk looked to the side to see Papyrus standing just inside the doorway - except, he was wearing a blue hoodie over his battle body.

“Jack?” Frisk said, walking over to him slowly.

“HELLO, HUMAN!” The skeleton said, beaming.

“I… I thought you were dead!” They rushed forward and hugged him. Jack was the lone survivor of Chara’s last genocide run - he’d sacrificed himself to trap Chara in the fragments left behind by the genocide run Frisk had been coerced into committing, or so everyone thought. They named him Jack for the jacket he wore, taken from his dead brother.

“WELL, I AM NOT!” Jack smiled. He looked so much better than the last time Frisk had seen him. “AND, I AM NOW PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?”

“Really? That’s awesome, Jack!”

“WELL… IT ISN’T QUITE THE ROYAL GUARD. GASTER AND MY BROTHER AND I ARE PROTECTORS OF THE DIMENSIONS NOW! WE ARE HERE TO MAKE SURE NO MORE DIMENSIONAL SHENANIGANS OCCUR. EXCEPT FOR MY BROTHER’S INTERDIMENSIONAL PRANKS, BECAUSE I JUST CAN’T SEEM TO STOP HIM.”

“Your brother… he’s alive?” It would have been a miracle for Jack’s Sans to survive - Chara had thoroughly destroyed that timeline.

Jack’s expression turned a little sad. “OH, WELL… NOT… THAT BROTHER.” He pinched the fabric of his jacket between his fingers. “I FOUND A DIFFERENT SANS IN THE PLACE YOU ALL SENT ME TO, AND HE DIDN’T HAVE A BROTHER ANYMORE EITHER, SO… I’M HIS BROTHER NOW! WE CALL HIM ‘SCAR.’ BECAUSE… UGH. BECAUSE HE WEARS A SCARF NOW.”

“REMIND YOU I MAY YOU THAT NAME THAT CHOSE?” Gaster chuckled.

“UGH, DON’T REMIND ME,” Jack groaned. “HE’S USED IT AS LICENCE TO TORMENT ME WITH PUNS AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY!”

Frisk looked behind Jack nervously. That meant ‘Scar’ was the Sans from their own genocide run - the one they’d had a hand in killing. Or almost-killing, apparently. Frisk wasn’t sure they’d be able to face him. “Is he… here?”

“HMM? OH NO, HE… WASN’T QUITE READY TO MEET YOU YET,” Jack sighed. “OR RE-MEET YOU, I MEAN. HE IS… STILL UPSET. ABOUT THINGS.”

Frisk looked down at the ground. This wasn’t how they wanted their new adventure to begin. “He… has every right to be.” They took a deep breath, blinking back tears. Scar was an issue to face another day. They had work to do. “The next time you see him… would you tell him that I’m sorry?”

“I WILL PASS THE MESSAGE ALONG,” Jack said, building his confident bravado back up. “BUT ENOUGH GLOOMINESS! YOUR FIRST DESTINATION IS RIGHT THIS WAY.”

* * *

 

Frisk felt the familiar sensation of falling. They were used to it by now - it was almost a comfort at this point. When they were falling, they knew their family was all out there waiting for them and whatever horrible events had transpired had been undone.

They didn’t have the luxury of resets anymore - they’d given up most of their determination to prevent anyone from messing with their own timeline ever again. They owed Sans that much. They could still save and load in other universes, but that was the extent of their powers. Nevermind the… complications Gaster had warned them about. They were sure those wouldn’t really come into play.

Frisk’s body crashed into the ground and they were reminded why falling was  _ almost _ a comfort. They laid there for a few moments, dazed, before realizing that this particular fall had hurt  _ much _ worse than normal. They looked down at their side - their sweater had been impaled by long, sharp thorns. The flowers they had inadvertently trampled on their way down were covered in them - lovely. They were already down to 15 HP, and some version of Flowey was no doubt waiting for them in the next room. They took a deep breath and pulled out their cell phone.

“hey, buddy! long time no see.” It was Sans who answered; it had barely been half an hour since they’d seen each other. Alphys had upgraded their phone even further to include cross-dimension calls as well as video chats. It felt nice to see their friend’s smiling face after being shaken up by learning of Scar’s existence. “hold on, let me get everyone else in here.”

Sans started calling out names, and soon their entire family was smushed together in front of the screen. “so, what’s up pal?”

“I just wanted to let everyone know I arrived safely,” they said, rubbing the back of their neck sheepishly. “More or less anyway.”

Toriel’s face moved closer to the screen. “My child, are you… bleeding? Who did this to you?”

Frisk looked down at their side - there were a few spots of blood on it from the thorns. “Oh, I’m fine. I just fell down a mountain is all,” they laughed a little.

“yeah, well that’s just a normal tuesday for you, right?” Sans chuckled good-naturedly.

“Ugh, no fair!” Undyne pouted. “I wish I could be there with you.”

“W-Well, I d-did install that ‘phone a friend’ feature in their phone,” Alphys said. “If things g-get really bad, you c-can, um, bring one of us there to help you! Um, o-only once though. N-Not even loading will fix that, unfortunately - the determination cell w-won’t recharge because of the different frequency u-underto-- um. Anyway, they c-can ask us for help if they really need it.”

“Alright, Alphy!” Undyne said, wrapping an arm around Alphys’ shoulders. “That’s awesome. You better call me if someone’s giving you a hard time! I’ll whoop their a--” Sans glared at Undyne before looking up at Papyrus. “I mean. I’ll… kick their butt for you.”

“Thanks, Undyne,” Frisk giggled. “I’ll keep that in mind. Well, I should be going - I just wanted to let you all know that I’m okay.”

“ALRIGHT, FRISK!” Papyrus said, waving. “CHECK IN OFTEN! OH, I MISS YOU ALREADY.”

“Don’t worry, Papyrus,” Frisk said. “I will. Besides, if everything goes well, I’ll be bringing home another Papyrus with me. Can’t be all bad, right?”

“OOH, YOU’RE RIGHT!” Papyrus said. “WHAT BETTER NEW FRIEND FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS… THAN THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

Frisk laughed again, soaking up Papyrus’ optimism. “Okay. Bye, everyone!”

Everyone waved them goodbye, and the call ended. They hefted the backpack they’d brought with them onto their shoulders - luckily, Alphys had made it more or less indestructible so it would survive the fall - and they marched off to meet Flowey.

He was facing away from them when they approached, sulking to himself quietly. Gaster did say that each world would be very different, though, so they weren’t too concerned. They cleared their throat behind him, and he immediately spun around to face them.

“AHHH! H-Hey, if you d-don’t back off I swear I’ll k-kill… kill…” His eyes widened. “You’re… you’re a human.”

“My name is Frisk,” they said, deciding to get that out of the way immediately. They didn’t want to go through another full journey being called ‘human’ over and over again.

Flowey looked around frantically. “No, no, you can’t be here! Just… get out! Get out of here now, before Toriel shows up and…” He paused as he heard the sound of approaching footsteps. “She’s coming! Hide, now!”

Flowey disappeared into the earth, leaving behind a very confused Frisk. Why would someone be scared of Toriel?

_ This isn’t my mom _ , Frisk reminded themself. This was a different world, and in this world, she could very well be dangerous. They decided to heed Flowey’s warning and hid in a little nook in the back wall. If it ended up being the wrong decision, they could just load.

Toriel did indeed appear a few moments later, sweeping her gaze across the room. Frisk was immediately disconcerted - this woman looked nothing like their mother. This Toriel was severe and harsher-looking; her features were more angular, her horns were sharper, and her eyes were a serpentine yellow. Her dress was deep red with black trim instead of purple with white, and the bottom of it was cut in a pattern that resembled bats’ wings. Seeing nothing, Toriel turned around and left. This… could be trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As one would expect, both Jack and Scar appeared in my previous series, if somewhat briefly. Don't worry about them too much, because while they will reappear on occasion, they are only minor characters.
> 
> As for Gaster, all you really need to know is that he spent most of his corporeal form helping Frisk and the gang defeat Chara and is now in the process of being forgotten once more. Frisk remembers him because of their determination, and Jack and Scar keep him company in the void.


	2. New Days

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in Undertale, the monsters are enjoying surface life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Endnotes contain spoilers for the previous parts of A Glimpse of Sun. They explain who Charlotte is, who appears in this chapter.

Sans yawned and stretched his arms above his head, blinking at the sunlight that poured through the open window. It was a perfect spring day - birds were singing, flowers were blooming. He sighed contentedly and nuzzled back into his pillow a little bit, drinking in the sunlight and the warmth and the softness of his bed. There were plenty of things he could do today - go for a walk around the city; follow Papyrus around on his errands; maybe go over to Alphys’ apartment and talk shop with her or watch an anime, provided Undyne wasn’t home. Sans still didn’t have the energy to deal with the former Royal Guard captain in anything other than small doses.

He should probably go look for a job, too, since he couldn’t really be a sentry in the Underground anymore. He had enough cash combined with various IOU’s people owed him in the Underground to live comfortably while he was in Snowdin, but unfortunately renting one of the small apartments in Ebott Town cost enough money to require a steady influx of cash. Papyrus wouldn’t be helpful with the rent either, since he was saving up to go to culinary school. Maybe he could use his blue magic to get some kind of temporary construction job.

The apartments in Ebott were tiny and crowded, but it was more because of a lack of space rather than poor treatment; they were very well-kept. Incorporating an entire race into the city’s population all at once had definitely taxed the city’s ability to support everyone. Construction of several new subdivisions was currently in progress to give the monsters some more comfortable housing, but that was going to take time.

So yes, he should probably go look for a job. But - the bed was so soft and warm, especially with the sunlight drifting down onto it. Sans could spare a few more minutes. Or hours.

He smiled to himself as he pulled the covers up over his head. Up until recently, he would have made the same excuse because he felt like nothing he ever did would actually matter and there was no point in putting any effort into the day. And sure, maybe sleeping in would create a few problems later, but Sans could live with that; especially because that decision actually  _ mattered _ now. The choices he made had an impact, for better or worse. Now, he was just lazy because he wanted to be.

“SANS!” Papyrus called out, knocking on his door. Sans sighed - still no rest for the wicked. “SANS, BREAKFAST IS READY! COME AND EAT, AND THEN WE CAN GO OUT AND LOOK FOR A JOB FOR YOU!”

Or, maybe he could be productive today. The short skeleton yawned again as he shuffled out of the bed and changed into a fresh set of clothes (he’d actually been keeping up with his laundry for once in his life, and skeletons didn’t really need to shower all that often anyway) before slipping into his slippers and opening the door. Huh. He didn’t feel bone-tired for once - how nice.

“FINALLY!” Papyrus sighed, tapping his foot impatiently. “YOU ARE SO SLOW SOMETIMES. COME ON, THIS WAY!” Sans chuckled, sticking his hands in his jacket pockets as he followed his brother to their miniature kitchen. Papyrus promptly pushed him into a chair and set down a plate in front of him.

Sans stared down at it in bewilderment. “uh... bro? this isn’t… spaghetti…”

“I THOUGHT I WOULD TRY SOMETHING NEW! MISS TORIEL HAS BEEN TEACHING ME THAT, WHILE A CHEF MAY HAVE A SIGNATURE DISH, IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO BRANCH OUT AND TRY MANY TYPES OF CUISINE. SO, I THOUGHT I WOULD TRY A FEW OF THE RECIPES SHE’S TAUGHT ME.”

Sans had been given several strips of bacon, two fried eggs, and a stack of pancakes. He wasn’t sure how to feel - he got up and headed towards the refrigerator. 

Papyrus pushed him back down into the chair. “NO! NO KETCHUP UNTIL YOU AT LEAST  _ TRY _ IT. IF YOU WANT A CONDIMENT, USE THIS!” Papyrus set a bottle of maple syrup onto the table. “TORIEL SAYS IT GOES WELL WITH THIS PARTICULAR BREAKFAST.” Sans shrugged to himself and dumped syrup over the entire plate before taking a small bite of the pancakes.

...Wow. This was… actually edible.

“this is amazing, bro!” Sans said, taking another bite. It wasn’t the best breakfast he’d ever had, by any means, but he’d actually be able to finish the entire plate without forcing anything down. Heck, he might even go for seconds.

“REALLY?” Papyrus said, practically glowing. Sans gave him a genuine smile as he started shoveling syrup-covered bacon past his teeth.

“mm hm. best breakfast you’ve ever made,” Sans said, and he meant it.

“WELL… OF COURSE IT IS! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ON HIS WAY TO BECOMING THE WORLD’S MOST LEGENDARY CHEF, AFTER ALL!”

“you definitely are, bro. mmm, thanks for breakfast, but i think i’ll handle the job thing myself. you’ve got some errands to run, right?” Sans finished his eggs before shrugging and taking a swig from the syrup bottle. This stuff wasn’t bad - they didn’t have maple trees in the Underground.

“YES, I DO, ACTUALLY. ALPHYS IS GOING TO TEACH UNDYNE AND I HOW TO DRIVE SO WE CAN GET OUR LICENCES! BUT ARE YOU SURE YOU DON’T WANT ME TO COME WITH YOU? YOU HAD BETTER NOT SLACK OFF - THIS IS IMPORTANT, SANS!”

“i’ll make some progress, bro, i swear,” Sans said, standing up to put his plate in the sink. “you, uh… won’t be in the car when undyne’s driving, will you?”

“I DON’T THINK SO. WHY?”

“...no reason. you just go take care of what you gotta take care of, bro. i’ll see you tonight, okay?”

“OH, ALRIGHT. I LOVE YOU, BROTHER,” Papyrus said, reaching down to give Sans a hug before heading out the door.

“love ya too, bro,” Sans called after him. Sans smiled and took a shortcut out of the building to see if he couldn’t find someone willing to hire him at one of the construction sites.

* * *

 

“I… don’t know what to say. This is incredible!” Asgore laughed, looking over the paperwork he’d been handed.

“I’m glad,” the woman across the desk sighed. “Hopefully the meetings I’ve arranged will go well - but you’re so likeable, I doubt you’ll have a problem.”

“Charlotte - thank you. I had high hopes that we would be able to lead successful lives on the surface, but… you’ve made the transition so smooth. I am sure that my entire people would agree with me when I tell you I am incredibly grateful. You’ve made Ebott so safe and welcoming to us monsters.”

“This plan is a hundred years in the making,” Charlotte chuckled, getting up from her chair. “It had better be going smoothly. Now get over here, you big furball,” she said, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. She could only get them about halfway around his broad torso.

He hugged her back. “Do you have time to share a cup of tea, perhaps?”

“I’m afraid not,” Charlotte sighed, pulling away and brushing her straight, blonde hair out of her ice-blue eyes. “I have another appointment I need to get to. Oh, speaking of which… would you be able to watch Tyler and Lacey tonight? I won’t be home until late and my husband has to leave town tonight.”

“O-Of course!” Asgore smiled, eager for any opportunity to spend time with his godchildren. “It would be an honor.”

“Ugh, you’re a lifesaver, Asgore,” Charlotte said, picking up her purse and heading towards the door. “Five until ten?” Asgore nodded. “Wonderful. Thank you! I’ll see you next time.” Charlotte left the building, and Asgore took the scenic walk to her house.

A man answered the door, looking slightly frantic and wearing a fine black suit. “Oh, good, you’re here,” he said, offering a handshake. “You must be Asgore. It’s an honor to finally meet you, your Majesty.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Asgore said, shaking his hand. “Are the children inside?”

“Yes. Did Charlotte send you all the information? Our emergency contacts are on the fridge, and…”

“She gave me everything I need to know. Do not worry,” Asgore said. “I’d offer to share a cup of tea and chat for a while, but it appears you may be in a rush.”

“I am,” the man sighed. “Thank you so much for doing this on such short notice,” he said, squeezing past Asgore to his car. “Maybe we’ll talk again some other time.”

“Enjoy your trip!” Asgore called after him before walking inside and shutting the door. Tyler was waiting inside.

“Hi, Mister Asgore,” he said.

“Hello, little one,” Asgore smiled, sitting next to him on the couch. The little human reached over and hugged him. “How has your day been? And where is your sister?”

“She’s sleeping in her crib back there,” Tyler pointed. Asgore listened for a moment, and heard the infant crying. “ _ Was _ sleeping,” Tyler corrected himself.

“Tyler, could you get me a bottle of milk and meet me back by the crib?” Asgore asked, walking into one of the back rooms. Lacey was laying in her crib, crying as she kicked at her gold-flower-patterned blankets. Asgore reached down and picked her up in his big fluffy paws, holding her close to his chest. “There, there, little one. Shhh, it’s alright.”

Tyler appeared with the bottle of milk like he was asked, and Asgore started feeding the baby. She quieted down immediately, grabbing at the bottle with her tiny hands. “See? You’re alright now.”

“Do you wanna go watch a movie?” Tyler asked as Asgore cradled Lacey in his arms, rocking her back and forth gently.

“Why don’t you go and put it on?” Asgore asked, following him back into the living room. The golden rays of the setting sun were starting to pour through the house’s front windows - life was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Through a long process of timeline shenanigans that I don't care to explain, Frisk and the monsters rescued the original human-soul children from previous timelines and then sent them back in time to when they first fell. They grew up and led their own lives on the surface, paving the way for monsterkind and making sure Ebott Town would be safe for them.
> 
> Charlotte was the soul of Patience. She runs the Ebott school district, has a seat on the city council, and wrote several children's books involving the monsters. She made Toriel and Asgore the godparents of her two children, Tyler and Lacey.


	3. Reflections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk meets a familiar face.

Frisk sighed and stepped out of their hiding place. This journey was already off to a weird start, and they’d only just seen Toriel. The human decided to look around for Flowey, since he appeared more or less trustworthy in this world and he seemed to know what was going on. They found him in the next room, staring up at the entrance to the Ruins intently. He was probably watching for Toriel in case she came back.

“Um… hello?” They asked quietly, trying not to spook him again. He turned around abruptly, but he didn’t scream like last time.

“Ugh, that was too close…” Flowey sighed, glancing back at the Ruins one more time. Then he glared up at Frisk. “What do you want? Just… go away.”

“Well, I’m kinda new here and I was wondering if… you could show me how things work down here?” they asked.

Flowey narrowed his eyes. “You’re… not at all freaked out that you’re talking to a flower right now?”

“I’ve, uh… done stranger things before,” Frisk said. “So… that woman, Toriel. Why are you so afraid of her?”

“I-I’m not  _ afraid _ of her,” Flowey stuttered, glancing away. “I just… it’s complicated. Why am I even answering you? Just… go away and die already so I don’t have to worry about you.”

“Aw, you’re worried about me?” Frisk said. They couldn’t resist. “That’s so sweet.”

“Wh… no, I’m not! Don’t put words in my mouth!” Flowey said. He looked at the ground. “Don’t follow me.” 

“Wait--” He popped into the ground before Frisk could stop him. They sighed and sat on the steps leading up to the Ruins, Saving while they processed all the new information. They glanced up to see a set of pale fingers creeping out of the tunnel from which they’d just come.

Someone stepped out into the light - it was a young human, with short brown hair and wearing a white-and-gold striped sweater and a pair of khakis. They waved shyly at Frisk. “Greetings,” they said, putting on a smile.

Frisk jumped bolt upright, grabbing a stick off of the ground and pointing it straight at them. “Don’t you come any closer!” Frisk shouted at them, backing up the stairs. They could see the other human’s vaguely transparent body and intense red eyes from where they stood.

The human put their hands up placatingly, staying where they were. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you,” they said softly, still smiling. Frisk kept backing up. “What’s your name? I’m--”

“I know who you are, Chara,” Frisk barked at them, reaching the top of the stairs. “How did you get out? You can’t - I won’t let you--”

Chara knelt on the ground, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. “I’m… sorry?” they said. “Do we know each other? I swear, I don’t mean you any harm. I just woke up in a flower bed back there and I don’t know what’s going on, and I was hoping you might be able to help me.”

Frisk tried to calm their panicked breathing. This had to be some kind of trick. Chara was going to try and take their soul or hurt the monsters or… 

Or was this a different Chara? Frisk had assumed that they wouldn’t reappear in these alternate universes, but they didn’t really know for sure. If Toriel was dangerous in this world, maybe Flowey and Chara would be friendly.

Or, it could be a trick.

“Um… are you okay?” Chara asked, looking up at Frisk. Frisk hadn’t realized they’d been shaking like a cornered animal.

“I’m fine,” they said, settling down. Regardless of whether this Chara meant well or ill, Frisk decided that the best thing they could do was keep an eye on them. Keep your friends close and enemies closer, and all that. “Sorry. I’m just a little… disoriented right now.”

“That’s alright,” Chara smiled, getting up off of the ground. “I understand. Did you  _ just _ fall into the Underground?”

Frisk eyed them suspiciously. “Yes,” they said, because it might as well be true. Clearly this world was governed by different rules.

“Oh, that makes sense,” Chara said, walking up the stairs slowly to join them. “You must be so confused. Don’t worry, I’ll help you out - I know this place like the back of my hand. Here, just follow me.” They gave Frisk a reassuring smile, but Frisk was still on edge. They watched every move Chara made.

“You, um… you never told me your name,” Chara said as they began walking through the Ruins with Frisk close behind.

“Frisk,” they said, glancing around. The stonework in these Ruins was so dark a shade of purple that it was almost black. At least it would make Flowey easy to spot, because they still wanted to have a conversation with him.

“Frisk, huh? That’s a nice name,” Chara said, and Frisk found the phrase eerily familiar. If Frisk didn’t know any better, they would’ve sworn they were speaking to Asriel. But the long-dead prince was gone, they knew. He was beyond saving, as much as they hated to admit it. They hoped that he was at peace somewhere, because their Flowey had disappeared after the barrier was broken. They had a good idea of where he was, though, and… well. He was out of reach, to put it simply.

“I’m Chara, but… you already seem to know that,” Chara said. “This situation is very strange, isn’t it? Oh, look - there’s someone. I’ll go ask them what’s going on.” Chara walked up to a Froggit, who was sulking in a corner. Even the Froggits looked more intimidating - their skin was slate grey and they had various horns and spikes accenting their features.

“Greetings,” Chara said, squatting down in front of him. “As you may know, I’m Chara Dreemurr. I was wondering if you could help my friend and I… here…” The Froggit didn’t react whatsoever, staring right through Chara as if they weren’t there. “Um… hello? Sir? Sir, it’s very rude to ignore people, you know.”

Frisk cleared their throat, and the Froggit immediately turned around and growled at them. Chara frowned, stepping between the two of them. “I don’t like doing this, but if you’re going to force my hand… then as child of King Asgore and Queen Toriel, I  _ order _ you to stand down and--”

The Froggit hopped forward towards Frisk, right through Chara’s legs as if they didn’t exist. They froze in shock as Frisk took a battle stance. Chara blinked a few times before looking at Frisk in panic. “Don’t hurt him! He doesn’t know--”

“Don’t worry,” Frisk said, sidestepping the Froggit’s first attack. “Uh… your horns look very sharp today! You must do a great job of taking care of them.”

The Froggit paused. “...He looks confused,” Chara said, staring at the battle. “I don’t think he understood you.”

Frisk looked confused as well. That usually worked. “Okay…” Frisk repeated the message more slowly, accenting it with hand gestures.

The Froggit growled again. “I’m not stupid!”

Frisk began to get flustered. “O-Oh, I’m sorry! That’s not what I was implying. I just, um… wasn’t sure if you… spoke human? I just wanted to make sure you knew how good you look today.”

The Froggit gave them a suspicious glare as Frisk selected Spare. “That’s… okay. Thank you,” he said, hopping away. He seemed extremely confused.

Chara let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, that was close. Thank you for not hurting him.” They turned their head to watch the Froggit leave. “Monsters can be a little abrasive when you first meet them, but I believe there’s good in all of them if you just take the time to look.”

Their pleasant smile turned into a frown as they looked down at themself. “Why did he not…?”

“Maybe he couldn’t see you,” Frisk suggested. “You look kind of transparent.” They tried to keep their tone friendly, but notes of bitterness found their way into Frisk’s voice.

_ You just have to kill them all once,  _ Chara smiled. Frisk couldn't see the malcontent flickering behind their eyes.  _ I know it's hard, but you’re no stranger to fighting. I’ll store up the LV for you, and then you’ll be strong enough to protect your little family. _

_ Besides, _ Chara said, voice dropping to a whisper,  _ Don’t you want them to know what they made you feel like just once? Terrified, lost, alone, in pain… it's not like you’ll really be hurting them. Just think of it as a little retribution. There aren't any real  _ consequences,  _ after all. _

“I don’t understand,” Chara said, bringing Frisk back to the present. This Chara didn't look sinister, they looked scared. But Chara had fooled them once with their silver tongue, and they knew appearances could be deceiving. Frisk wasn't going to trust Chara yet, not by a long shot. “I was just in the castle, at home. The last thing I remember was…”

Chara sighed as they racked their brain for information. “Asriel. I need to find my brother,” Chara said.

“I have a little yellow flower friend I need to find as well,” Frisk said, walking forward. “Why don't we go together to find them? We can figure out what happened to you along the way.”

“Oh, really? Thank you so much!” Chara smiled. “The castle’s a long way away from here, but don't worry. I know the Underground better than anybody.”


	4. Ways to Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk finds Flowey again.

“Is that him?” Chara asked, peeking around a wall. Flowey sulked in a corner, overlooking a balcony over the Ruins’ abandoned cityscape. Frisk nodded. “Hello? Mr. Flower?” Chara called out, hoping he would be able to hear them; he didn’t. Chara sighed and clutched their arms around themself, looking a little defeated.

Frisk considered giving them a pat on the back, but they knew they couldn’t actually touch Chara’s ethereal form nor did they want to be anywhere near them if they were being honest. They walked around the corner and sat next to Flowey, who squeaked in surprise.

“Ugh, what did I tell you about following me?” Flowey growled. He prepared to leave again.

“Please don’t go,” Frisk said, looking at the view Flowey had apparently been transfixed with. “I’m kinda lonely here.” Chara gave them a soft smile from behind and sat down next to them. “This view is kind of pretty, isn’t it?”

Flowey snorted. “It’s a bunch of dead, empty buildings. There’s nothing pretty about this place.”

“Well, there’s you,” Frisk said with a wink, hoping their flirtatious ways might help break the ice a little. They got a closer look at him for the first time - his leaves and petals were scuffed and dirty. One of them even had a small tear.

“Ugh. That’s it, I’m leaving,” Flowey scoffed.

“Wait, wait,” Frisk said, turning to look at him. “I’m sorry. I’m just… kinda scared right now and you’re the only monster that’s been nice to me so far. I could use a friend. Why… why does it matter that I’m a human? Why did you think I’m not safe here?”

Flowey sighed and glared at them. “We’re called  _ monsters _ for a reason, whatever-your-name-is,” he said.

“My name is Frisk,” they told him again. Was their name really that forgettable?

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Like I was saying, though, we’re  _ monsters _ \- you know all those scary stories your parents told you about monsters coming to eat you in the night or whatever? Well most of them are probably true.”

Chara stood up and put their hands on their hips. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard! Don’t listen to a word he says, Frisk, monsters do not  _ eat _ people.”

Frisk waved their hand at them dismissively, making Flowey squint in confusion. “The monsters I’ve met so far might have been a little feisty, but they don’t seem  _ that _ bad.”

Flowey rolled his eyes. “That’s because the Ruins monsters are all weak and stupid,” he said.

“Hey, that’s very rude!” Chara scolded him, forgetting that he couldn’t hear them.

“Once you leave, everyone’ll be out for your head,” Flowey said.

“Is the exit outside the Ruins?” Frisk asked, trying to lead him towards the answers they actually wanted.

“W… Well, yes, but--”

“Then maybe you could lead me to it,” Frisk suggested, trying to retain their optimism even though the thought of traveling with both Flowey and Chara made their skin crawl. “And you look strong, too - maybe we can help protect each other if we meet someone that’s particularly mean.”

Flowey gave them the most deadpan look Frisk had ever seen. “I am a  _ fucking _ flower,” he said, and Frisk was a little taken aback. “I am the  _ last _ person you want to be friends with. Trust me. You’ll just end up dying like everyone else.”

Frisk eyes softened a little. “You’ve… helped other humans before, haven’t you?”

Flowey started a little, surprised at being called out so quickly. “...Yes. And every one of those kids is dead now, so you should  _ really _ just leave me alone.”

“I’m not a kid,” Frisk told him, “and I’m different than those humans. I’m stronger than I look, I promise. Flowey - will you come with me? Please? At least for now.”

Frisk gave him a set of puppy-dog eyes. “How  _ dare _ you use that face,” Flowey scoffed. He paused for a second when he realized they had just used his name - when did he give it to them? He must have forgotten. “Fine. If it’ll get you to stop pestering me, I’ll come along for a little while. Since apparently you aren’t planning on leaving me alone.” He gave them a half-hearted glare. “You got space in that backpack? I don’t wanna have to move all over these god-forsaken ruins.”

“Oh! Sure,” Frisk said, slipping the backpack off of their shoulders and setting it on the ground so they could clear some space. They froze as they reached in to rearrange its contents.

_ Vines wrapped around their body, strangling them and cutting off their circulation. Sans screaming in pain as vines crushed his ribs, begging for Flowey to stop. Vines digging under their skin like green veins, pain so great that they passed out completely - and they never passed out. They’d been burned alive, impaled, vaporized, sliced in half, bludgeoned to death, but this sick form of torture was something else entirely. But they knew they had to take it, because otherwise he’d turn his attention back to Sans. _

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Flowey asked, and Frisk’s eyes flicked up to meet his. Their skin looked damp and bleached, and they were holding their breath. This wasn’t that Flowey. Sans was safe. If Flowey decided to choke Frisk from behind, they’d suffered far worse deaths. If he tried anything else, they could just Load. They had that power back, they were safe. It was fine.

“N-Nothing,” Frisk said, unconvincingly. “Here. Get in.”

Still squinting at them suspiciously, Flowey uprooted himself and wedged himself among the contents of Frisk’s bag. They zipped it up, leaving a small hole in the middle for his stem to poke through. “Where, um… where should we go first?”

Flowey sighed. “The only way out of the Ruins is through Toriel’s house. Just keep heading forward until we reach it, and make sure she  _ doesn’t _ see you. We’ll have to sneak past her.”

“Wait… Toriel?” Chara asked, standing next to Frisk. “That’s my mother! Queen Toriel - but… she lives in New Home, not the Ruins. And she’s not… we don’t need to sneak past her. Sure, she is a little imposing, but she’s really a very fair and just person. What else would you expect from a queen?” Chara looked around, some mild panic beginning to take hold. “He doesn’t make any sense. This - none of this makes any sense.”

Frisk gave them their best reassuring smile, which wasn’t all that reassuring in their current state. “We’ll be careful and watch what happens,” they said, hoping the answer would satisfy both of their traveling companions. They began walking forward, and found themselves at the spike puzzle Toriel had held their hand through so many times. It seemed so much more sinister here - the spikes were much larger and barbed.

Frisk smiled confidently, walking straight in. The spikes receded as they approached.

“Wait, wait, slow down!” Flowey said. “You can’t just… don’t turn yet, you’re not--!”

“Relax, I know what I’m--” The spikes on the space Frisk was currently standing on immediately shot up. Frisk looked down at the giant spear of iron that had been driven straight out of their chest, and the pain finally registered as blood poured out of their mouth to soak into their sweater.

“Frisk! Stars, no, Frisk don’t--”

Frisk woke up on the stairs leading into the Ruins as if from a dream. They patted down their shirt - no spike. They were alive. Well, that was not a very good start at all.

“Frisk! Frisk, where--” Chara came dashing out of the tunnel they had appeared from earlier. “Stars above, you’re okay!” They said, running up to sit next to them. Frisk shrunk away as Chara tried to put a hand on their back comfortingly, but they either didn’t notice or pretended not to. “How… how are you alive? Are you alright?”

Frisk nodded. “That’s, um… fairly normal for me. So you remember in this place, too…”

“What?” Chara asked.

“Nevermind, you wouldn’t understand. Let’s try that again,” they sighed.

Flowey popped up in front of them. “How… you can Save?” he asked, staring up at them. “How?”

“Long story,” Frisk said. “Sorry. I should’ve studied the puzzle more. Here, get back in,” Frisk said, setting the backpack down again.

Flowey made no move to do so. “And you’re completely alright with the fact that you were just  _ impaled? _ ” he asked incredulously.

“Wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last,” Frisk said, and both Flowey and Chara gave them concerned glances. “Come on, let’s go. We have work to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this may or may not be on a brief hiatus while I deal with finals and other such things. I'll try to keep updating things, but... we'll have to see. Have a great day!


	5. The World At Large

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things on the surface might not be quite as perfect as they seem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you know how I said this might have a short hiatus? Well, I lied, have a thing.
> 
> Also, endnotes contain spoilers for A Glimpse of Sun, once again.

“I am King Asgore Dreemurr. It is a pleasure to meet you,” Asgore said, putting on a warm smile and offering his hand. The man in front of him made no move to shake it.

“Richard Bateman, and the pleasure is mine,” he said, though it was apparent he was not at all pleased. He was sweating, and his jaw was tense. Asgore awkwardly sat down across the desk from him.

“Would you like a cup of tea, Richard?” Asgore asked, pulling out the kettle and cups he had a special compartment for under his robes. He set the pair of cups down while he heated the previously-filled kettle with his fire magic. The man’s fingers clutched around the arms of his chair, though Asgore either didn’t notice or acted like he hadn’t. “I always find a nice warm cup helps soothe the nerves when you’re meeting new people for the first time.”

“It’s Mr. Bateman, and I’m afraid I’ll pass,” Richard said.

“Oh… that is alright,” Asgore replaced one of the cups under his robes sadly and poured himself a cup of hot water. He set a tea bag inside. “Well, we have many things to discuss. Why don’t you start, since you are the host?”

“Gladly,” Richard said. “We just have a few things you need to sign. Signature here, initials here…”

“If you don’t mind,” Asgore said, taking a small sip of his tea, “when someone hands me a stack of papers, I prefer to read them before I sign them.” Asgore might not be the brightest or most shrewd monster in the world, but he could navigate politics even if he wasn’t a fan of them. Right now, it felt like he was about to be either tricked or bullied into something, and that was not something he was going to allow.

“Of course,” Richard said, smile straining slightly. The print was extremely fine - Asgore pulled out a pair of reading glasses.

His smile faded as he scanned the pages. He wasn’t even halfway through and he already began to feel anxious. He looked up at Richard. “This is unacceptable, Mr. Bateman. You can’t honestly expect me to sign this.”

“I’m afraid I am. Once you sign, we can see about some later negotiations--”

“Let me see if I understand this correctly,” Asgore said, voice shifting from friendly to firm. He so badly wanted this to be a nice conversation, but if he had to be forceful, so be it. “You expect me to allow you to arrest and detain my subjects for any ‘suspicious activity’ - a term that is _extremely_ ambiguous, I might add - without due process of law. You want to segregate us away from humanity and put us into some poorly-detailed location until further notice. And you want me to consider the use of _magic_ a _felony_. And on top of all this, the only provision you’ll grant us in return is a lack of military action on my people. Am I correct?”

Richard began sweating even more. “That is… yes, that is correct.”

Asgore stood up, towering over the thin man in his oversized chair. He sunk down into it, looking even smaller. “Asking my people not to use magic is like asking us not to breathe,” Asgore said. “That is not something I can possibly agree to. I was told this was a negotiation, not an ultimatum, and I’m afraid I must tell you that I feel _extremely_ insulted.”

“That… that was not our intention, Asgore,” Richard said.

“I thought we were using last names, _Richard_ ,” Asgore said, leaning forward on the desk. “You may address me as either Your Majesty or Mr. Dreemurr. And to insult me was _exactly_ your intention, because I doubt that your entire government is so ignorant to believe that _this_ would bring any other reaction from me.”

“I’m… these are our terms, you can either sign, or--”

“It is very rude to interrupt someone when they are speaking, Mr. Bateman,” Asgore said. “Once again, I was told this was to be a negotiation. So, we are going to negotiate. These are _my_ terms.”

Asgore sat down again and took another sip of tea. “One, you will grant my people the ability to apply for citizenship, just like any other immigrant. Two, once that citizenship has been earned, they will have equal protection under the law just like any other citizen.”

“You can’t… our government needs assurances that our citizens will be _safe_ now that you have emerged onto the surface. That is the reason for all this,” Richard said. He seemed to have lost his composure. “Magic is dangerous, and the use of it threatens that safety.”

“If one of my subjects were to use magic to commit a crime, I would of course expect that they would be put on trial and punished accordingly,” Asgore said. “But the use of magic itself should not be the basis of the crime. Are there different charges for murder with a knife and murder with one’s hands?” Richard found himself at a loss for words. “Furthermore, there has not been a _single_ incident of a monster committing such a crime in the entire month we have been here, and yet there have been numerous crimes committed against _us_ , so it would appear that your citizens aren’t the ones in need of protection. This is discrimination of the highest order and I will not tolerate it.”

“I… I don’t have the authority to change this,” Richard said.

“Then you can take my terms to your superiors. In fact, why don’t I write them down for you? I wouldn’t want you forgetting and accidentally twisting my words.”

Richard gulped. “Of course… Mr. Dreemurr.”

* * *

 “I would like to remind the prosecution that my client had the authority to use force in the situation, regardless of her status as a monster. She is an officer of Ebott Town.” The man who spoke was standing in front of Undyne, adjusting the glasses that covered his dark, monolidded eyes. “I would also like to point out that the injuries sustained by the plaintiff, which our physician has proved to be a mild sprain and not a debilitating fracture as he claims, were far less severe than the injures _he_ inflicted on the monster child Miss Undyne was defending.”

Undyne resisted the urge to tap her foot impatiently as Mike continued to dissect the prosecution’s flimsy case. This was the second time she’d been in court this month, something Mike assured her was extremely improbable. Court cases never moved that fast, but it seemed someone had it out for Undyne and was making special considerations to get her in as soon as possible.

Undyne knew she wasn’t guilty - the scumbag had assaulted a _kid_ that had to be taken away in an ambulance for multiple broken ribs and internal bleeding, and all she’d done was pull him off of them - but despite Mike’s reassurances that it would be an easy case, the jury looked rather split. Some of them looked like they decided she was guilty from the second they saw her, a few gave her sympathetic looks, and a few to their credit tried very hard to remain impartial and seemed to see the case for what it really was. Unfortunately, the rational people were just about even with the irrational ones, and she wasn’t sure how this was going to end.

Undyne was so lost in thought that she didn’t notice when the jury left and Mike sat beside her.

“Hey,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright? Don’t worry about this. It’s not going to be unanimous, but they’ll clear you. You’ll see.”

“Yeah, I know you’re right,” Undyne sighed. “It’s not just that on my mind. It’s just… the surface was supposed to be paradise for us. And don’t get me wrong, in a lot of ways, it’s awesome - the sun, the fresh air, people like you,” she punched him in the shoulder playfully, and he reached up to rub at the spot. “But…”

“It’s not quite what you thought it was going to be?” Mike asked knowingly.

“...Yeah. I mean, I knew there were probably going to be a lot of humans out there that sucked, but I never thought there would be this many people out to get be just because I’m a monster.”

“Prejudice is… unfortunately something that comes naturally to humans. I can’t promise it’ll ever get completely better, but give it time. That kind of spite tends to mellow with time, even if it doesn’t go away completely,” Mike said.

“Thanks for the encouragement, I guess. It’s just… I don’t know. You don’t have to deal with this kind of stuff being a human, y’know?” Undyne sighed.

Mike chuckled. “Oh, you’d be surprised. Humans can be pretty petty with each other, too. You said you’re from a place called Waterfall, right?” Undyne nodded. “Well, my parents moved here from a place called China. It’s all the way across the Pacific ocean - and people can generally tell I’m from there by the way I look.” He pointed to his face. “Some people don’t like me because my family’s from China. Although you’re right, I haven’t taken near as much heat as a lot of people do.”

“You’re kidding, right? What do you mean?” Undyne was suddenly very confused.

“Sometimes, humans will mistreat other humans because they have dark skin, or because they’re women, or because they’re attracted to people that are the same gender. I could give you a laundry list of all the ridiculous prejudices people have sometimes. To be fair, though, we have come a very long way from what we used to be, even if there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

“That’s… that’s just _beyond_ stupid. I don’t think I’ll ever understand humans.” Undyne said, staring at him disbelievingly.

Mike just gave her a half-shrug. “In a lot of ways, you’re lucky. You come from a people that are just inherently diverse and accepting, and that’s honestly beautiful. There’s a lot we can learn from you.”

The jury returned and found Undyne not guilty by one vote. Alphys was waiting outside for them once all of the formalities had been taken care of, along with Mike’s brawny brother James and sheriff Courtney.

“See? Told you he’d get you out again. Can’t find a better lawyer in the whole country,” James said, ruffling his brother’s hair. Mike swatted his arms away.

“How many times have I told you _not_ to do that?” Mike sighed, chuckling in spite of himself.

“I’m real sorry ‘bout all the crap they put you through, Undyne,” Courtney sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder. “See you back at work tomorrow, deputy?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Undyne smiled. “I’m ready to get back out there. All this legal mumbo-jumbo is _so boring._ ”

“Don’t I know it,” Courtney chuckled, walking back towards her car. “Oh, I almost forgot. Them 01 and 02 fellas passed and they’ll be startin’ next week. I trust you’ll be able to show ‘em the ropes ‘round here?”

“Will do, sheriff,” Undyne called after her, turning back to Alphys.

“I’m g-glad it went well,” Alphys sighed. “S-Since you’re free, I w-was wondering if you wanted to go back to our a-apartment and watch something? I-I found this new anime that looks r-really good, it has princesses like you wanted and… u-um, well, a lot of violence and--”

“Sounds awesome, baby,” Undyne smiled, picking Alphys up off of the ground and giving her a peck on the cheek. The lizard monster blushed heavily as Undyne sat her on top of her shoulders. “All that court stuff is exhausting. I could use a night on the couch with some cuddling before I get back out there tomorrow.”

Alphys blushed harder, if that was possible. “R-R-Right. C-Cuddling. That, u-um, that’s s-sounds n-nice.”

“Hell yeah it does,” Undyne smiled. Sure, maybe a lot of humans sucked, but she had some great friends and an even better girlfriend. Life might not have been perfect, but it was still good. “I didn’t miss a call from Frisk while I was in there, did I? Do they need me to come bail ‘em out?”

“N-Not yet, no,” Alphys said. “They’re p-probably just waiting for a time when they aren’t in any immediate danger. They g-get attacked pretty often, so…”

“Eh, they can handle it,” Undyne said. “Anyone that’s strong enough to beat _me_ has some serious grit. Anyway, tell me more about that anime - is it awesome? Do the princesses have weapons? What _kind_ of weapons do they have?! Oh, do they…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Courtney was the soul of Justice in A Glimpse of Sun, and she became the sheriff of Ebott Town to assure the police force would work to protect monsters. James was the soul of Bravery, and he owns a gym in the city - his younger brother Mike is a lawyer and has been handling the legal stuff that came along with protecting the monsters.


	6. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk reaches Toriel's house.

Frisk limped into a corner and pulled a piece of monster candy out of their pocket. They resisted the urge to gag on it as they popped it into their mouth - why was the candy in this place so  _ sour _ ? Ugh. At least it wasn’t licorice.

“I told you Looxes are bullies,” Flowey scoffed from behind them. They rubbed at their sore knee.

“He was just misunderstood,” Chara said, arguing with the flower even though they knew he couldn’t hear them. Their eyes softened as they looked at Frisk. “Are… are you okay? You’ve… died nine times, now.”

“I’ll be alright,” Frisk sighed, deciding they’d earned a break. “We’re almost to Toriel’s house. We should be safe there.”

Flowey gave them an exasperated squint. This human must have been crazy or something. “How many times have I told you that her house is  _ not _ safe? We’re both going to get incinerated with that attitude. You may be some fucked-up masochist, but I’m not. I’d prefer not to be burned to death, and I don’t care that you can undo it with a Load.”

Frisk winced. Even their Flowey didn’t swear this much. “I’m not a masochist,” they said. “I just… am used. To… dying repeatedly.” That didn’t even sound good in their head before they said it.

“What did you  _ do _ on the surface?’ Flowey asked. “Or do you just jump off cliffs and into dark mountain holes for fun?”

“Sure, we’ll go with that,” Frisk said. They felt their shield of optimism growing thinner and thinner with each passing minute. Flowey had been sort of right earlier - the Ruins monsters, at least the ones back in their own dimension, had been much milder than those of the rest of the underground. Nine deaths was not a good number - even their very first trip through the Ruins hadn’t included that many failures. Then again, the puzzles hadn’t been lethal in their home dimension; regardless, this was not a good start. If the Ruins were going to be this difficult, they didn’t even want to think about what Snowdin or stars forbid Hotland was going to be like. At this rate their soul might…

No. They had plenty of tries left before those ‘complications’ would become a factor. They would be fine.

They stood up and walked the rest of the way to Toriel’s house. Flowey gave them a suspicious look. “What are you… please don’t tell me you’re about to knock on the door.”

“It would be rude to just go in uninvited,” Chara said, and Frisk repeated the statement to Flowey. They knocked on the door and the flower groaned.

“We’re going to die,” he said, receding into the backpack. The door opened to reveal the former queen.

“Who is--” A frown immediately spread across Toriel’s features as she looked down at Frisk.

Chara moved closer to her. “Mom? Can you hear me?” they asked hopefully. She didn’t react, continuing to stare at Frisk. Chara felt tears coming on, so they clenched their fists and shut their eyes tightly. “I don't  _ understand, _ ” they said, voice beginning to quiver. “What  _ happened _ to me?”

Frisk wanted to give them a sympathetic glance, but they knew this meeting was very important and they didn't want to risk looking weird. “Hello, miss,” they said, putting on a light smile. Toriel kept staring, unblinking, and Frisk began to feel uncomfortable.

They prepared to say something else, but Toriel held up her hand to silence them. Frisk felt her eyes piercing their chest as she Checked them, and her frown deepened. She looked confused and… curious. “Are you lost, dear?” she asked. Her voice was deeper than their mother’s, and gravelly from lack of use.

“Yes, miss,” Frisk replied, holding their hands together in front of themself to keep from fidgeting. “I was wondering if, maybe… you had a place to stay?”

Toriel stared for a moment longer, squinting as if trying to solve a puzzle. “Come inside,” she said at last, walking away from the door to let Frisk in. They smiled brightly, happy to finally have something go their way. She stood in front of them and pointed to the right.

“Your clothes are filthy,” she told them. “There should be something that fits you in the bureau in the first room on the left. Go wash up in the second room on the right. Dinner will be ready soon.”

“Yes, miss,” Frisk said, taking a deep breath and standing a little straighter. This was not the warm, caring mother of their home - but they could handle stern as long as she wasn't trying to kill them.

“Good. We will be having pie,” Toriel said, and Frisk’s face immediately lit up. They missed their mother’s cooking already. “Do you prefer your snails with or without shells?”

Frisk blinked. Oh no. “W...Without?” they answered.

“Very well,” Toriel said, walking into the kitchen. Frisk immediately went into the first room Toriel had indicated and set their backpack on the ground. Flowey popped out, face pale.

“I told you it would be fine,” they said quietly, opening up the bureau. Frisk couldn't exactly say they enjoyed the selection - dark and dreary was definitely not their taste in color. They settled on a midnight-purple-and-blood-red striped sweater and a pair of black jeans.

“No, it's  _ not _ fine,” Flowey said, looking around. He seemed even more uncomfortable, and Frisk could guess why. This was the children’s room. “She’ll never let you leave now that she knows you're here. You're going to have to Load.”

“I'll convince her to let me leave,” Frisk said confidently.

“You don't even  _ know _ her,” Flowey growled through closed teeth. “How can you be so sure?”

“Just a feeling,” Frisk said, pulling the clothes off of their racks.

Flowey’s eye twitched. “Great. Do you hear voices, too?”

Frisk couldn't help but smirk at the irony. “No,” they said simply. “Stay here while I go change, okay?” Frisk turned to look at Chara, who was hugging themself in the doorway as they stared at their shoes. They beckoned to them with their fingers subtly and headed for the bathroom, and Chara followed.

The bathroom didn't have a toilet, of course, just a sink and shower. “Could you turn around, please?” Frisk asked, and Chara obliged as Frisk pulled off their clothes and started washing up. “Are you okay?” they asked quietly. As loath as they were to trust Chara, it was plain to see that they were miserable at the moment.

“I'm… no,” they said. “I don't understand why no one can see me, and why my mom is at our old house, and I don't know where my dad or my brother are. None of this makes any sense and I'm just…” they sniffed, and Frisk turned around from putting their new clothes on to see them crying quietly. “I'm just really scared.”

“Maybe you're a ghost,” Frisk suggested, tone flat. It came off as callous; for anyone else, they might have felt pity, but not for Chara. They knew full well that scared people could do terrible things.

_ They didn't want to die again. The spears - they hurt so much, ripping through their flesh like butter and searing their insides with sparks of electricity. The smell of blood and ozone and cooked flesh was so thoroughly burned into their nostrils that they doubted they'd ever be free of it. So they hit the fish-woman, over and over, to make her stop. Stop hurting them, stop chasing them, stop b r e a t h i n g. _

“You… you think I'm dead?” Chara asked. Frisk shook themself from the dark memory. “That… no. No, that can't be.”

“It would explain why no one can see you,” Frisk elaborated, adjusting the sweater on their body. The material was coarse and scratchy. “And why things aren't exactly as you remember them. Time has passed.”

Chara slid to the floor, huddling into their knees. “Stars above,” they whispered. “I can't be dead. I was supposed to save them. I was going to bring peace to them, I...I can't…”

Chara began to sob, and Frisk sighed to themself. That had been tactless. Perhaps even a little bit cruel. They sat down next to Chara; Frisk was only a few inches taller, and they were fairly certain that they were fully grown at this point. They would be lying if they said it wasn't more than a little aggravating, although they'd never been considered tall at any point in their life anyway. “It'll be alright,” they told Chara.

“How?” Chara asked.

“I'll help you figure out what happened since you… were here,” they said. “And you don't have to worry about me hurting the monsters. I will never harm any of them, I swear.” It was already a promise they had made, after all; a promise to themself, and to Sans. “And if you need me to lend an ear, I'll be listening. Even if I'm pretending to ignore you so that I don't look crazy.”

That earned a small chuckle from Chara as they wiped their eyes with their sleeves. “Thank you,” they said, leaning over and wrapping their arms around Frisk’s shoulders. They immediately felt a chill spread through their body.

_ “This isn't what I wanted, it's not what I wanted,” Frisk screamed. “I don't want this. Let me reset. You told me this was just to make me stronger.” _

_ “Of course it was to make you stronger,” Chara chuckled. “And don't lie to yourself, this  _ is  _ what you wanted. You wanted to make them all suffer, just like they did to you. And now, our revenge is almost complete. We can erase them all, monsters, humans - there'll be none of them, nothing left. C’mon, partner, admit it. This is all your doing.” _

_ “No. No, it's not my fault and I won't let you do this,” Frisk shouted back at the phantom in front of them defiantly. _

_ An impossibly wide smile stretched across Chara’s face, eyes disappearing and dripping black ooze. “You won't  _ let _ me? Oh, Frisk. Since when were you the one in control?” _

_ And then it was cold, and dark, and silent, cold dark silent there was nothing left nothing there was nothing nothingnothingnothing-- _

Frisk gasped for air as they scrambled away from Chara, trying to remember how to breathe, how to  _ think _ . Chara backed away from them immediately, eyes panicked.

“I am so,  _ so _ sorry, I didn't mean to - are you okay? Frisk? I'm sorry, I don't know what happened. I'm not used to… ghost powers or whatever that was.”

Frisk stared at them, eyes wide like a cornered animal. Gradually, their wits returned; they were in another dimension, with another Chara. The monsters were safe and alive back home. They'd fixed their mistake.

“It's… I-It’s fine,” they said unconvincingly. Both of them were certain that it was surely  _ not _ fine. “Just don't… don't ever touch me again.”

Chara looked slightly wounded, but they nodded their head slowly. “Okay. I'm sorry.”

“Never again,” they said once more, more to themself than to Chara. They stood up and walked back towards the kitchen.


	7. Worries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Toriel get a call from Frisk.

Toriel sat in her rocking chair, reading one of the dozens of new books she’d recently bought. She would always have a soft spot for the weathered old paperbacks she’d read and reread so many times in the Ruins, but she had to admit that it was refreshing to have some new reading material after decades of isolation in the Ruins.

She eagerly jumped up out of her seat when she heard a knock on the door - company had been the other thing she was missing in the Ruins, and she jumped at any opportunity she could have to greet a guest. Her new students staved off the loneliness well enough, though. They were all so very precious, especially the little glimmer in their eyes when they realized they could use magic for the first time.

Toriel peeked through the peephole in the door to her apartment to see her favorite skeleton standing there, waiting patiently. “Who is there?” she called through the wood, mood brightening with anticipation.

“stopwatch.”

“Stopwatch who?”

“stopwatch you’re doing and let me in already.” Toriel snorted loudly, easily able to imagine him giving her a goofy wink through the door now that she had met him in person. She unlocked the door to find him holding a small paper bag. “good’ta see ya, tori,” Sans smiled.

“Please, come in,” Toriel said, moving aside. Sans walked in and set the bag down on the table before reclining in one of the chairs, sighing deeply. “What is that? And are you alright, Sans? You look exhausted.” She took a seat across from him.

“some cookies papyrus made. they, uh, aren’t exactly the best, but they haven’t chipped my teeth yet, so it’s an improvement. an’ i’m fine, i just got off work. turns out construction’s a lot more labor-intensive than sentry duty,” Sans said, crossing his arms behind his head.

“Do not put your feet on the table, please,” Toriel said, giving him one of her mom-glares.

“sorry, habit,” Sans said, putting his feet down and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“It is alright. I am sure you are doing excellent work, though. Now, let us try these cookies.” Toriel reached into the bag and pulled one out. Oh dear - they looked rather burnt. Still, she took a bite. Oh, this was very, very bitter.

“Oh… oh, my…” she said, coughing a little as she got up and poured herself a glass of milk. “He used bakers’ chocolate instead of semi-sweet chips. He most likely made the oven too hot again as well,” she sighed, washing down the acrid flavor.

Sans just shrugged at her. “eh, i’m not all that picky when it comes to food. s’not the worst thing i’ve ever tried from him, trust me.”

“Papyrus has a lot of potential,” Toriel said, sitting back down, “but he unfortunately has picked up many bad kitchen habits from Undyne. I truly do not know how she gave him some of the ideas he has.”

“hey, he’s improved by leaps and bounds ever since you took over teaching ‘im, tori. you’re doing a good job of ironin’ out the kinks, even if it’s taking a while.”

“Well, thank you,” Toriel said. “Is there any particular reason for this visit?”

“nah,” Sans said. “just some good company and, uh… maybe some good food, too? i need a break from papyrus’ cooking until grillbz gets his new place up and running.”

Toriel chuckled, moving to the refrigerator. “You could always go to one of the human restaurants,” she said, pulling out the leftovers from the previous night’s dinner and placing them in the microwave.

“turns out it’s kinda hard to digest human food if you don’t have a stomach,” Sans said. “any ingredients we didn’t have in the underground pap’s been makin’ by hand. you shoulda seen me tryna drink human water for the first time, it just came straight outta the bottom of my jaw and got all over my clothes.”

Toriel laughed again in spite of herself. Just then, Sans’ phone rang - he pulled it out and grinned, looking at the camera. “hey, buddy. how are things across dimensions?”

Toriel let out a little gasp. “My child?” Sans nodded and she rushed over to stand next to Sans. “Oh, Frisk! It feels like it has been ages since you last called! Oh, how are you, my dear?”

“Hi Mom, hi Sans,” the human said through the receiver. Their voice sounded just a little subdued. “I’m… fine. I’m in the other Toriel’s house right now.”

“I see,” Toriel said. “Did she feed you well? How is your room? No one has hurt you, have they? Has she tried to stop you from leaving? Are you--”

“I’m fine, Mom,” Frisk giggled. “Just… going through the routine. This Toriel’s, um… very interesting, lets say.”

“Well… I am glad to hear that you are well,” Toriel said. Her smile faded just a little.

Frisk seemed to sense it. “She could never replace you, Mom,” they assured her, and it made her feel a little better. “But enough about me. How are you guys? Have you had any problems with the humans?”

“There have been a few hiccups, yes, but nothing overly concerning,” Toriel said. “My ch… the other fallen humans have done a very good job of making Ebott very welcoming to us. And I must say, I am enjoying surface life very much.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Frisk said. They glanced at Sans. “What about you, Sans?”

“i’m doin’ fine, frisk,” he smiled. “really. this place is, uh… really somethin.’ got a new job, and paps is taking cooking lessons from tori now. you gotta try his food again once you get back, i betcha it’s gonna taste awesome by then.”

“I look forward to it,” Frisk said.

Sans looked down at their sweater and frowned. “you, uh… rockin’ a new look there, buddy? doesn’t really seem your style.”

Frisk glanced down at the dark fabric. “Oh, my clothes got dirty and I had to change. This was the best thing I could find.”

“Hmm…” Toriel said disapprovingly, no doubt judging the other Toriel’s choice in wardrobe for her children.

“Say, um… Sans? Do you think I could talk to you, you know… alone for a little bit?” Frisk asked quietly. “I’ll call you back after, Mom. I just… It’s personal, and I just…”

“I understand, my child,” Toriel said reluctantly. As much as she wanted to know everything that went through her child’s head, she knew that they had a very special connection with Sans. He understood them in a way she doubted she really ever would.

“i’ll be back in a bit, tori,” Sans said, getting up and walking out the door. He teleported back to his apartment - Papyrus wouldn’t be home for another hour or two. “what’s on your mind, kiddo?” Frisk’s expression had faltered by the time Sans looked back at the phone, just as he had expected. He knew a fake smile when he saw one.

“I… I don’t know,” they said as Sans got comfy on the couch. “This world is just… different.”

Frisk certainly had a talent for being vague. Sans sighed mentally, remembering how arduous of a process it had been to pry answers out of the human the first time he had met them. Well, the first time in this particular timeline, at least.

“well, doctor… uh…” Sans had to think for a moment, “doctor gaster told you that the basic structure of the alternate timelines had been altered. different histories, different personalities… you weren’t expecting them to be just like us, were you?”

“No, of course not,” Frisk said.

“well, if that’s the case, by ‘different’ you must mean ‘bad,’ right? ‘cause you really aren’t lookin’ so hot, buddy.”

“I’ve always been hot,” they said, raising an eyebrow flirtatiously, and Sans couldn’t help but snort.

“sure,” he said. “but seriously, kid. what’s really goin’ on?”

Frisk glanced away. “They’re all a lot stronger… and meaner than the monsters in our universe,” they said. “Honestly, I’m… I’m a little scared of them.”

Sans’ smile fell. “aw c’mon, bucko, it can’t be that bad. you told me the very first time you fell you thought everyone would kill you if you didn’t fight back, remember?”

“It’s different here,” they said slowly. “Sans, I… I don’t know for sure because I can’t check it with my ACT menu like you can, but… I think most of them have LV.”

Sans felt a chill go down his spine.  _ Most _ of them? There couldn’t be enough humans to go around for that. “are you really okay? have you had to load yet?” he asked.

“I died nine times getting to Toriel’s house,” they said, barely above a whisper, and Sans felt his soul ache. He knew Frisk had already died countless times before and that it wasn’t all that big a deal to them, but he still didn’t like hearing it. “And I… I don’t know about Toriel, Sans, something’s not right. I don’t know how to explain it.”

Sans put on a reassuring smile for them. “you’ll figure it out, buddy, you always do,” he said. “we’ve all got faith in you.”

Frisk smiled back weakly. “There’s something else,” they said. “I’m… I’m traveling with Chara and Flowey.”

Sans felt his eyelights flicker out in shock. “you what?” Frisk flinched a little, and Sans realized that had come out far harsher than he had intended it to. He let his features soften. “not  _ our _ flowey and chara, right?” Frisk shook their head. “well... i guess they’d be different, too. i just… are you sure you can trust ‘em, frisk?”

“That’s the problem,” they said. “They’re both the only people that have actually been nice to me. Flowey’s… I don’t even know what Flowey is. But Chara seems really sweet, and kinda scared. I just… I don’t  _ want _ to trust them, but…”

Sans rubbed the back of his skull. “well... i trust your judgement, pal. just be careful, alright? don’t let ‘em convince you of anything you don’t wanna do.”

Frisk gave him a slightly hurt look. “I won’t,” they said. They glanced off to their side somewhere. “Toriel’s coming. Tell mom I’m sorry, okay? I have to go.”

“will do. call back soon, yeah?” Sans said. Frisk nodded and the call ended.

That wasn’t what he was hoping Frisk’s first official check-in was going to be like. He’d braced himself for the possibility of other Floweys and other Charas, but Frisk  _ traveling _ with them… it made his (heh) skin crawl. He teleported back to Toriel’s house. He had some thinking to do later.


	8. Heartbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk attempts to leave the Ruins.

Frisk walked back to their room and picked up the backpack Flowey resided in. As it turned out, snail pie wasn’t actually terrible. Sure, the texture was a little weird, but it didn’t taste half bad with all the seasonings Toriel had put on it. The flower gave them a suspicious glare as they headed towards the door. “Just who were you trying to call? There’s no way you’re getting cell reception to the surface from down here,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter,” Frisk told him. They looked over at Chara, who waved shyly from the bed. They avoided eye contact with Frisk, and the human almost felt a little guilty. Almost. “Let’s go.”

“Go where?” Flowey whispered as Frisk began walking towards the living room. His eyes widened and he popped back into the backpack as he saw the human was heading straight for Toriel.

“Do you need something?” Toriel asked, glancing up from the book she was reading. It had a black, leather cover.

“I was hoping you could tell me where the Ruins exit is,” they said, and they could practically feel Flowey bang his head against their back in frustration. Chara stood behind them, watching quietly.

“No.” Toriel said simply, and Frisk blinked in confusion.

“Miss Toriel, I… I really need to leave. Thank you so much for your hospitality, but… I can take care of myself. Please.”

Frisk felt even more off-put when Toriel gave a dark chuckle. “You misunderstand. I am not allowing you to leave. Stay in my spare room, go wander about the Ruins for the rest of your days, it does not matter to me. You will not leave. Do not ask again.”

“I  _ have _ to leave,” Frisk said. “I know you’re just trying to protect me, but--”

Frisk was silenced by the sound of Toriel slamming her book shut as she stood up to tower over the human. Frisk felt themself shrink under her shadow, and suddenly it became all the more apparent why Flowey was scared of her.

“You know  _ nothing _ ,” Toriel said harshly. “If you do not enjoy my company, then you my leave my  _ home _ , but not the Ruins. This is your final warning. Do not. Ask. Again.” She marched off to the basement, leaving Frisk to stare after her.

Chara looked at Frisk. “She’s not normally this… cold,” they said. “I swear. I don’t… I don’t know what’s happened to her, but…” they looked towards the stairs Toriel had descended, “the exit to the Ruins is down there.”

Frisk sighed and began walking after Toriel. “Frisk, what are you doing?! You need to Load,” Flowey hissed from the backpack.

“It’ll be okay,” Frisk assured him.

“Frisk, if you don’t turn back right now, she will  _ kill _ you,” Flowey said.

“She could never kill me,” Frisk said. Not on purpose, at least.

_ They’d tripped. It was no one’s fault, really, but Frisk’s first experience being burned to death was enough to convince them that Toriel was out to kill them, too. They’d missed the flash of absolute horror on her face. So the next time, they watched the ground instead of the flames and came at her with the plastic knife. _

“She’s already killed a human before, you idiot!” Flowey said desperately.

“You’re lying,” Frisk and Chara said in unison.

“You don’t even  _ know _ her,” Flowey pleaded.

“It doesn’t matter anyway, Flowey. I Saved before I came down here,” Frisk said, glaring at the flower suspiciously.

“You what?” Flowey looked down the hallway. “Frisk, I kept warning you! The only way you’ll ever get home now… is by killing her. She won’t let you through any other way.”

Frisk froze. “ _ NO, _ ” they said, dropping the backpack to the ground. “I will never let you manipulate me into killing someone again,” they said, and Chara gave them a concerned glance.

“Again? What are you…?” Frisk ignored them as they walked the rest of the corridor to find Toriel standing at the door.

“You are a fucking imbecile, just like the rest of your kind,” Toriel scoffed, not turning around. Frisk blinked in surprise. Did Toriel just…

“I have to go,” they said stupidly.

“Are you deaf? You are NOT leaving,” Toriel said, finally turning to face them. “I won’t give Asgore - that psychopath - the satisfaction.”

“I’m stronger than you know,” Frisk said. “I won’t let him kill me. You don’t have to worry--”

Toriel started laughing, some dark, hysterical giggle bubbling past her lips. Frisk took a step back as she raised her hand and summoned a sphere of eerie blue flames. “ _ Worry _ ? I don’t  _ worry _ about you. I hate you and the rest of your filthy kind with every fiber of my being.” Her frown left little argument, and Frisk felt tears prick at the corners of their vision.

Chara stood between the two of them, trying to get Frisk to look at them. “She doesn’t mean that,” they said desperately. “She’s a good person! You have to believe me, please… she’d never hurt anyone, she…”

“I don’t care what happens to you,” Toriel said coldly, “but I do care that if your soul falls into Asgore’s hands, he’ll have won. I won’t let that happen. You  _ will not leave. _ ” She threw the fireball, and it seared a hole straight through Frisk’s chest. They looked down with numb surprise and crumpled to the ground. Chara let out a shrill scream as Frisk Loaded.

The ghost found themself back at the top of the stairs with Frisk, and they slid to the floor. “No, no, no…” they said, voice shaking uncontrollably. “She wouldn’t do that. My mom wouldn’t do that.”

“I  _ told _ you,” Flowey said. Frisk dropped the backpack again and marched down the stairs determinedly.

Chara followed behind them. “Frisk, no, don’t - don’t hurt her, please, she… Frisk--”

“I won’t,” Frisk said quietly, and Chara watched them approach their mother again.

“You don’t want to hurt me,” Frisk said, desperately needing to believe it. Toriel turned around and looked at them quizzically.

“Then you are a fucking imbecile,” she said, “just like the rest of your kind.”

“I have to leave,” Frisk told her. “It doesn’t matter how dangerous it is or who wants my soul, I am  _ going _ . And you’re going to let me because you don’t want to hurt me,” they said.

Toriel turned and glared at them. “You are a fool,” she said. “I do not understand how you managed to survive the Ruins while being so unbearably naive. You will die, human, whether it is here or out there. I choose here.” The threw the fireball again, and this time Frisk dodged in time. They could still feel the heat graze their skin as it flew by.

* * *

 

Forty-seven. They had been killed by Toriel forty-seven times - she had already surpassed Undyne’s record for the first time Frisk had met the Royal Guard captain. Forty-seven times they’d been burned to death with Chara looking on in what could only be described as despair and Flowey sitting on the stairs telling them the only way to do this was to kill her.

They knew Flowey was a liar. They knew he was just playing one of his sick games, and they never should have trusted him in the first place. But that didn’t matter now. Frisk needed to focus, or they were going to die for a forty-eighth time.

The attack patterns had all become predictable by now, but no less difficult to dodge. They came out in speeds so blistering that Frisk had to rely entirely on muscle memory, because they had practically no time to react; even worse, the flames dealt a truly massive amount of damage. They could barely survive a single direct hit if they were lucky; trying to conserve their items by tanking a few consecutive blows simply wasn’t an option.

“I know, somewhere--” Frisk  held their breath as they let two columns of fire graze right past them, “deep down, you don’t want to do this! Please, Toriel, you don’t have to fight me!”

“I am trying to  _ kill _ you, you idiot,” she growled from behind the wall of smoke and flames. Frisk was lucky that the basement was made of stone and not wood, or the ceiling would have caved in on top of them long ago.

“I won’t fight you,” Frisk panted, hopping over a wall of flames and then rolling to the side to dodge another. “No matter what you do, I  _ won’t _ fight you!”

“And that is why you must die here,” Toriel said. Her attacks were coming out at an even more frantic pace, and Frisk found themself on the brink of death once again. “You can’t just  _ spare _ your way through the Underground. This world is kill or be killed, and there is nothing you can do to change that.”

Frisk finally saw the opening, for the third time in a row. They dashed forward, hopped left, rolled under the next attack, and sprung up to wrap their arms around Toriel’s neck.

The former queen froze in shock as Frisk buried their face into her shoulder. “I’m not fighting you,” they said. “No matter what you do, what world you’re in, I will  _ always _ believe in you. Because I know, deep down, you care.”

It was a long moment before she responded, and Frisk thought they might finally have won. They didn’t see the flames in Toriel’s palms as she moved her arms to hug them back.

“Mom, don’t!” Chara shouted, rushing over to them and wrapping their own arms around her waist.

_ “You’re a wonderful mother, Toriel,” Chara said. “Asriel is lucky to have you.” _

_ “I am sure your own mother misses you as well, child,” The queen said, rummaging through her spice cabinet. Asgore probably put the garlic back in the wrong place again, damn him. _

_ “I… don’t have a mother,” Chara said. “Or a father.” _

_ Toriel paused her rummaging. That had been accidentally insensitive, but for some reason she smiled a little as she turned around. _

_ “Well then, considering you are staying here indefinitely… I have a proposition for you, Chara,” she said. “How would you like me to be your mother?” _

_ The human’s eyes lit up. “I… I would love that.” They ran forward, and wrapped their arms around her waist in a tight hug. Toriel returned it reluctantly, until she realized they were crying a little. _

_ She huffed and pushed them away a bit. “Chara, please, this is nothing to be emotional about. Now stop bothering me and go wash up for dinner.” _

_ Chara wiped their eyes with their sleeves and smiled up at her. “Yes, mother,” they said as they walked to the bathroom. In spite of herself, Toriel felt… warm inside. _

The flames dissipated as Toriel wrapped her arms around Frisk, and they stood there for a while in silence. Toriel finally blinked away the memory and shoved Frisk away, an unreadable mixture of emotions on her face.

“Do not come back here.  _ Ever _ ,” she said, trying to hide the wetness building in her eyes. She stormed away, leaving Frisk and Chara to stare after her.

“What happened to her?” Chara whispered. “This isn’t my mother. She doesn’t act like this,” they said.

“People change,” Frisk said quietly, turning to the big door behind them. Flowey used his roots to crawl down the stairs with the backpack after Toriel had left.

“You… you did it,” Flowey said. “You actually did it. You convinced Toriel to let you leave. How did you--”

“I have nothing to say to you,” Frisk said coldly, walking away.

“Wh… Hey! Hey wait, get back here!” Growling frustratedly, Flowey tunneled under the floor with the backpack in tow. He popped up on the same little mound of grass that Frisk’s Flowey had taunted the human from so long ago. “Seriously, what’s your deal?”

“You tried to get me to kill her,” Frisk said. “We’re done. Don’t talk to me again.”

Flowey gave them a confused look. “Look, I’m sorry. You just - you don’t understand. I’ve tried for  _ years _ to get past her by talking to her, and it’s never worked once. I was just trying to make sure you were okay!”

Frisk glared at him, and Flowey sighed. “If you’re really so determined to get through this without killing anyone, then I won’t bring it up again. Fair? Now quit whining like a fucking baby and pick me up already.”

Still glaring, Frisk snatched up the backpack and looked straight into Flowey’s face. “You had better not try  _ anything _ ,” they said, Flowey started sweating a little.

“O-Of course not,” Flowey said, voice quieter. Frisk slung the backpack over their shoulder and resumed walking.


	9. Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus appears on television, and something goes wrong on Sans' way home from work.

“I am honored to introduce you to our special guest this evening, Mrs. Olivia Freedman - award-winning Broadway star and pioneering actress, singer, and dancer. It’s a pleasure to have you tonight, Mrs. Freedman.”

“Oh, the pleasure’s all mine, Sammy,” Olivia said as she was wheeled into place. She adjusted her deep blue dress around her legs and messed with her graying curls a little.

“Well, as you all know, we’re here tonight to get Mrs. Freedman’s perspective on the appearance of monsterkind and the almost immediate passing of the Monster Rights Act within Ebott. What do you think about the act, Mrs. Freedman?”

“Oh, I think it’s absolutely wonderful,” Olivia smiled. “Historically, it’s taken years for groups of people to get their rights recognized, and far longer for them to be integrated into society as equals. It’s a well-known fact that I was often turned down on Broadway because I was African-American. But, it seems we’ve come a long way from those days, and I have to say, I am very proud of my city for how quick they were to respond. There is still a lot of work to be done, though, and I hope the rest of the nation - and the world at large - will be able to welcome monsters back to the surface in time.”

“So… you don’t have any doubts about their story or their intentions?” Sammy asked. “You don’t believe them to be dangerous?”

“Not at all, Sammy, not at all,” Olivia responded.

“Have you actually met with any of the monsters in person?”

“Oh yes, many times,” Olivia said. “In fact, a very close friend of mine happens to be a monster. He’s backstage right now, actually! Would you mind terribly if he came out here for a little while?”

Sammy blinked. “O-Of course not! Bring him out, please.” He snapped at someone off screen, and the excitable skeleton appeared a few moments later.

“HELLO, HUMANS!” Papyrus waved at the camera and then to Sammy. He sat down in one of the cushy chairs next to Olivia and gave her a boney kiss on the hand, making her chuckle.

“Oh, you old charmer,” Olivia laughed. “Sammy, this is Papyrus from Snowdin.”

“Welcome to the show, Papyrus,” Sammy said. He seemed a little flustered, but he got over it quickly. “Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?”

“WELL, AS MRS. OLIVIA JUST TOLD YOU, I LIVED IN SNOWDIN TOWN IN THE UNDERGROUND. I LIVE WITH MY BROTHER, SANS - HI, SANS!” he waved at the camera, “AND I WAS PREVIOUSLY TRAINED BY THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD, UNDYNE. SHE’S THE DEPUTY OF EBOTT NOW! OH, AND I’M CURRENTLY SAVING UP TO GO TO CULINARY SCHOOL.”

“How interesting,” Sammy said. “So, Mrs. Freedman, how did you meet Papyrus?”

“Well, as soon as I heard the monsters had been freed from the  Underground, I immediately wanted to see it for myself,” Olivia said. “As soon as I ran into Papyrus, it was like seeing an old friend for the first time in years - we hit it off right away. We’ve been inseparable ever since.”

“Fascinating,” Sammy said. “We’ll be back with Papyrus and Olivia Freedman, right after this.”

* * *

 

“thanks, buddy,” Sans sighed to the Nice Cream vendor.

“Of course! Have a great day!” he said. Sans started walking off, but turned around once he looked at the wrapper.

“tomato flavor?” Sans asked.

“Yup! I thought it was a little strange, but your brother recommended I try it out. He said you’d really like it. It’s not half bad, actually. Tastes sorta like ketchup, but in a good way.”

Smiling to himself, Sans unwrapped the ice cream bar.  _ Go ahead and smile! You’ll light up the room! _ the wrapper informed him. Sans took a bite.

“mmm. stars bless my brother. this is awesome, buddy, thanks.”

“You’re welcome!” the rabbit monster said cheerily.

Sans waved goodbye and started walking home. He’d been in a bad mood after work - nothing bad happened in particular, but it was still  _ work _ \- but Sans was pleasantly surprised just how easily the Nice Cream man had been able to cheer him up. Usually, he just moped around all day.

The moment didn’t last, unfortunately. Sans passed a big crowd on the steps of some old building, all holding signs and posters with various slurs and disturbing imagery. Some man in the front holding a megaphone was spouting a bunch of vulgar, anti-monster nonsense; Sans considered teleporting home, but he decided against it. He wasn’t going to back down from a bunch of narrow-minded rabble.

The megaphone-man spotted him. “See? Look at that disgusting thing, walking our streets! Tell it what we think about it!”

The crowd started throwing insults and projectiles, which Sans deflected casually with his blue magic. “ _ our  _ streets, huh? and here i thought they were public property.”

“How dare you sass me, you little motherfu--”

“wow, you talk like that with kids around?” Sans said, looking at the crowd. There were indeed a few sets of parents around with their kids, which Sans found disturbing. The man started smacking his megaphone, which had conveniently stopped working. Sans grinned a little. “and i call undyne vulgar. i’ll have to go apologize later.”

The man marched up to him through the crowd, glaring daggers. “I don’t have to take shit from you, you worthless little  _ freak _ ,” he growled.

“tch. sticks and stones may break my bones, but words’ll never hurt me,” Sans said.

Sans could practically see steam coming out of the man’s ears, and his face had gone beet red. “I’ll give you sticks and stones, you little--” The man raised his fist, and Sans prepared to teleport out of the way.

The next thing Sans knew, he was on the ground, head ringing so loud that it drowned out everything else. He struggled to get up, painfully dizzy, and tried to figure out what had happened.

The megaphone-man was also on the ground, completely still. Sans looked to the building that the crowd had been gathered at to see it reduced to flaming rubble. His eyesockets widened as he crawled over to the man. His head was laying in a pool of blood; there was some shard of metal embedded in the back of his neck.

He wasn’t breathing.

Sans staggered to his feet and walked towards the rubble, glad to see a few more people were moving around. He made straight for a little girl, sheltered by the body of a dead man that was presumably her father. She was unconscious, but breathing. Sans grabbed her hand and teleported her to the sidewalk as he heard ambulance sirens approaching, then went back to grab some of the other kids he’d seen. He wanted to make sure they got medical attention first.

Sans froze as he heard the sound of wood snapping; one of the telephone poles was falling straight into the crowd. He heard a few screams from people under the rubble as it came down and Sans used his blue magic to stop it, grunting with exertion as he slowly moved it aside. He let it drop harmlessly to the sidewalk as the emergency personnel rolled up. Undyne was there, and she ran up to Sans immediately.

“Sans, what the hell happened?” she asked, looking over him for injuries. They appeared to be minor.

“i dunno, there was some kinda explosion inside the building,” he said. He watched the paramedics head straight for the kids he’d pulled out of the wreckage with relief.

“This is bad, Sans,” Undyne said.

“ya think?”

“Someone  _ blew up _ an anti-monster rally, Sans, who do you think they’re going to blame?” Undyne said, wishing he would take this seriously.

“we don’t know that it was some _ one _ . it might have been some kinda accident,” Sans reasoned.

“That’s the one that blew it up, officer!” Some man was shouting and pointing at Sans as the paramedics carried him away. “Shoot it, it’s dangerous!”

“It wasn’t him,” someone else said. It was a woman, underneath where the pole would have fallen. “He stopped the pole from falling on us. And I saw him pull those kids out of the wreckage earlier.” She glanced at Sans and then away again as someone helped her to her feet. The man just growled and spat at Sans as he was loaded into an ambulance.

Undyne turned back to Sans. “Call Alphys for me. We’re gonna have to prove that a monster didn’t do this, or we’re in serious trouble.” She walked away to help out the injured, and Sans pulled out his phone. So much for being home in time to see Papyrus on TV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Olivia is the last human soul that is alive anymore; her trait is integrity. She became a beloved broadway star.
> 
> The other two, Landon/Perseverance and Andy/Kindness came from further back in time and passed away before the barrier was destroyed. Landon became a Nobel-prize winning biologist that also wrote a treatise on greeting non-human life, and Andy was a pioneering civil rights activist in his time.


	10. A Severe Lack of Levity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk enters Underfell's Snowdin Forest, and Alphys has some news about the explosion.

Frisk stepped out into the frigid Snowdin air - it was colder here than back in their home dimension. “Flowey, hand me my scarf, please,” they asked, and Flowey produced a long red scarf from the backpack. It had been Papyrus’ idea, and knitted by Toriel. Frisk wrapped it around their neck, grateful for the warmth and the reminder of home.

“Can you pick up the pace a little?” Flowey whispered harshly. “If we’re lucky, we won’t run into--”

Flowey jolted at the sound of a large branch snapping behind him, but Frisk seemed unaffected. “Go, already, go!”

Frisk kept up their leisurely pace, even if they weren’t all that excited to run into this universe’s Sans. If Toriel was as dangerous as she had been, Frisk absolutely did not want to get on Sans’ bad side. Flowey, exasperated, hid back in the backpack.

“Human,” an almost-familiar voice said from behind them. It was deeper and more gravelly than their Sans’ was. “Don’t you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand.”

“Don’t do it,” Flowey whispered. Frisk ignored him and shook Sans’ hand.

They immediately lost ten HP as a rush of electricity flooded their system, making their hair stand on end and their entire arm go numb. They jerked their hand away, gasping for air while they stared at the skeleton, wild-eyed.

“hehe, the old joy buzzer in the hand trick. it’s always funny.” This Sans was just a little taller - which made him about the same height as Frisk, now - and he was a fair bit stockier (was that the skeleton equivalent of being muscular? Frisk had no idea). His jacket was jet black and the tee shirt underneath was blood red; his teeth were jagged and one was capped with gold. What stuck out the most to Frisk, however, was his left eye - it was glowing a dull crimson, just like Sans’ did when he was exerting himself except with different colors. Overall, he was far more menacing than the punny skeleton Frisk knew so well.

This Sans’ grin didn’t look playful, but sly instead. “what’s the matter with your arm there, buddy? fuck, i musta turned the juice up a little too high. these things can be a real bitch if ya overdo it.” He played with the device in his palm. “so, i guess you’re a human, huh? sucks for you,” Sans chuckled. Frisk felt more than a little unnerved. “you know, i’m actually a sentry around here,” he smiled darkly. “s’posed ta gut ya and take your soul and all that shit. ‘course,” he looked Frisk up and down, “you don’t look like ya have very much meat on your  _ bones _ . probably wouldn’t be very fun at all. nah, i could think of plenty of other things we could do.” He leaned forward just a little, staring straight at them, and Frisk took a small step backwards.

Sans’ gaze flicked up to something over Frisk’s shoulder. “well, fuck. looks like the boss is coming. now he’s a real stick-in-the-mud by-the-books type, let me tell ya. if he gets one good look at ya, well… let’s say you won’t be around for any  _ fun _ . c’mon, let’s hide ya.”

Sans gave them a shove across the bridge, and Frisk felt another jolt of electricity rush through their body. Luckily Sans had turned the voltage down and it only took five HP this time. “behind that lamp already, we don’t have all day,” Sans said. Frisk crouched behind the light fixture as Papyrus marched into view.

Just like Sans, this Papyrus was several levels more intimidating than his counterpart back home. The white bits of his armor were replaced with black, the angles on his face were harsher, and there was a long scar across one of his eyesockets. Where Frisk’s Papyrus had covered himself with bone-tight black fabric, this one was bare. His outfit was more… showy as well, showing off his hip bones and spine.

“What do you think you’re doing, Sans?” Papyrus scoffed. His voice was much harsher, but surprisingly not excessively loud.

“jus’ admiring this lamp i found the other day, boss. you know me,” Sans said, and Frisk could see the smirk on his face from where they sat.

Papyrus squinted at him. “I always knew you weren’t bright, mutt, but I never knew you were quite that dim.”

Sans squinted back, annoyed. “yeah, well at least i don’t put fuckin’ _ drain cleaner _ in spaghetti sauce like a fuckin’ idiot,” he countered.

“THAT WAS COMPLETELY UNINTENTIONAL AND YOU KNOW IT!” Papyrus shouted. Frisk winced; there was the volume they were used to.

“don’ feel bad, boss. ain’t your fault that i got the looks  _ and _ the brains,” Sans said.

“Well, at least I’m actually  _ good for something _ ,” Papyrus sneered. “Unlike you. Some days I think you might be more useful as a paperweight. Or maybe free EXP.” Frisk’s eyes widened at that remark, and Sans’ face soured. “Now get back to your post, you useless sloth.”

“can’t,” Sans said, more than a little sassy. “i ain’t finished admirin’ my lamp yet.”

“Forget about the FUCKING LAMP, SANS!” Papyrus shouted, destroying it with a bone attack thrown from his hand. Frisk barely managed to roll out of the way in time, dashing behind the sentry station.

Papyrus looked at their new hiding place. “What was that?”

“probably a human,” Sans smirked. Papyrus glared at him.

“Don’t fuck with me, Sans, or I swear I will  _ beat _ your ass.” Papyrus walked over to look at the sentry station. Flowey used his vines to press Frisk up under it, and Papyrus missed them on his quick glance-over.

“pssh. you could try, princess,” Sans said, rolling his eyelights. The death glare he got from Papyrus was enough to make him look away. “...boss,” he corrected.

“Get back in your fucking station,” Papyrus growled, marching back towards Snowdin Town. Sans did just that, kicking his feet up on the counter as Frisk slowly crawled out from underneath. They gave Sans a venomous glare.

“he’s a real ball of sunshine, ain’t he?” Sans asked sarcastically.

“You were trying to get me caught,” Frisk said.

Sans just shrugged. “i guess it woulda been kinda funny to watch him disassemble you,” he grinned sadistically. “but i think i’ll get more bang for my buck this way. so, you can either go on ahead, or…” he grinned wider and crossed his arms behind his head, “we can have some fun right here.” Frisk walked away without another word, and Sans’ grin fell. “fine, then. suit yourself.”

* * *

 

“I got good news, everyone!” Undyne called, marching into Alphys’ newly-finished surface laboratory. Everyone was gathered there. “All our lab tests say the explosion was just a gas leak. We’re in the clear.”

Her triumphant grin fell as she looked around the room. “Hey, why all the long faces? We should all be happy we don’t have another stupid court case on our hands.” When no one gave her an answer, Undyne turned to Alphys. “Baby, what’s going on?”

Alphys sighed and adjusted her glasses. “I… I d-don’t think it was j-just a gas leak, Undyne,” she said quietly. Undyne walked over to her.

“What are you talking about?”

Alphys looked at the ground. “There was a leak, b-but… looking at the r-recent data I acquired, it may have been caused… intentionally.” Undyne gave her a confused look. “I… I f-found traces of f-fire magic in the basement of the b-building, Undyne. They’re way t-too faint for the humans to detect, but… it was d-definitely magic that caused the explosion. Whoever it was is just r-really, really good at covering their tracks.”

Undyne shook her head. “So… you’re saying that it  _ was _ a monster who did this?” Alphys nodded sadly, and Undyne’s jaw clenched with rage. “What kind of  _ traitor _ would do something like that? Don’t they know how fragile things are right now?”

“Things h-haven’t been all that great up here for some m-monsters, Undyne. Maybe one of the humans went too far and they j-just decided to lash out and--”

“Uh uh. That’s not an excuse. Whoever did this jeopardized the future of the  _ entire _ monster race. I’m reporting this, I’m not going to let some whiny little traitor get away with--”

“W-Wait, wait!” Alphys said waving her arms. “That m-might not… might not be the best idea,” she said quietly. “If the humans think i-it wasn’t us, then… maybe we should just let them. We don’t w-want to make everything more tense than it already is.”

Undyne gave Alphys an almost hurt look, and the lizard monster shied away. “Alphys, I… I’m not just  _ letting _ this person go! I don’t care how scummy they were, there are eleven people dead right now, and one of them was  _ five. _ ”

“I-I wasn’t suggesting we just let them go!” Alphys quickly corrected herself. “Just that, m-maybe… we handle this ourselves? W-We can, u-um, put them in prison ourselves without the humans knowing. S-So, um, whoever did this is put away and we d-don’t make the humans jumpy.”

Undyne looked around the room, and it seemed that everyone else was in agreement. She crossed her arms. “...Fine. But I want constant updates, got it? And I’m handling the dangerous stuff, if it comes up. That’s my job.”

“O-Of course,” Alphys said.

Undyne’s eyes softened, and she knelt down to give Alphys a hug. “Sorry I snapped. I’m just a little stressed out.”

“I-It’s okay,” Alphys said, blushing.

“Do you have any leads on who it was?” Undyne asked, standing up.

“N-Not yet, unfortunately,” Alphys said. “F-Fire magic is really common. It’s going to be d-difficult to narrow things down.”

“Well, start working,” Undyne said. “We have a lot to get done.”


	11. Chilly Reception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk begins navigating through Papyrus' puzzles.

“Those skeletons are going to be a problem,” Flowey told Frisk as they approached Papyrus’ first puzzle. “It would probably be best if we avoided Papyrus’ traps altogether, but I doubt Sans will let us get away with that. Freak.”

Frisk’s first instinct was to reply with ‘Papyrus is harmless,’ but they were beginning to realize that wasn’t the case. They couldn’t rely on the similarities these monsters had with their family; they were different people and Frisk was going to have to find some different ways to placate them. They had a feeling they might be running a lot more often this time around.

“I’ll just have to wade through them,” Frisk said. “There’s no rush. I’ll find a way to get through to him eventually.”

Flowey gave them a flat look from behind. “I know you can Save and all, but you are seriously way too chill about this repeated death thing,” he said. “Also a gentle reminder that you’re carrying me on your back and  _ I _ don’t have a deathwish like you apparently do.”

“I think I’ve just grown numb to it at this point,” Frisk said. That probably wasn’t something to be proud of, but… it was both inevitable and necessary. This universe was just the first of dozens they would have to visit eventually. Their adventures in the Underground weren’t over by a long shot, and there would be many more deaths to come.

“Speaking of numb,” Flowey grumbled under his breath. They had reached what appeared to be the electric maze puzzle.

“...you lazy sack of shit, I TOLD you to be at your station and now you’re sauntering around like a fucking juvenile delinquent! Even Undyne isn’t as useless… as…” Papyrus looked over to see Frisk, who took a deep breath and waved from across the field.

“Is that a human?” Papyrus asked, surprised.

“nah. i’m pretty sure it’s a sack of potatoes,” Sans said. Papyrus summoned a bone and clubbed Sans over the head with it. “son of a bitch, boss!” Sans said, rubbing his skull.

“It’s smaller than I imagined,” Papyrus said contemplatively. He struck a dramatic pose and pointed the bone at Frisk. “HUMAN,” he boomed, “YOU HAVE HAD THE MISFORTUNE OF ENTERING SNOWDIN, DOMAIN OF THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS, CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD!” Frisk blinked. That was new information. “I HAVE RIGGED THE LANDSCAPE BEFORE YOU WITH A DEVIOUS ARRAY OF TRAPS, TRIALS, AND TRIBULATIONS! WHILE EVEN ONE OF THESE DEVICES WILL SURELY BE ENOUGH TO DISMEMBER YOU, IF YOU SOMEHOW MANAGE TO MAKE IT THROUGH SNOWDIN TOWN, I WILL WAIT FOR YOU AT THE ENTRANCE TO WATERFALL. THERE, WE SHALL ENGAGE IN SINGLE COMBAT, WHERE I WILL SCATTER YOUR BLOODY REMAINS INTO THE SNOW AND CLAIM YOUR SOUL FOR KING ASGORE!”

Oh, this was not good at all.

“YOUR FIRST CHALLENGE,” Papyrus continued, “DIRECTLY BEFORE YOU, IS AN INVISIBLE MAZE OF MY OWN DESIGN. A BRIEF TOUCH FROM THE ELECTRIFIED WALLS IS ENOUGH TO DUST A GROWN MONSTER TEN TIMES OVER!” The skeleton grinned evilly. “I DOUBT YOU’LL EVEN MAKE IT PAST THE FIRST TEN FEET.”

Frisk sighed and made a quick Save. It looked like this Papyrus wasn’t going to inadvertently give away the solutions to his puzzles. They took a few steps forward and—”

BZZRT!

...well, at least it was quick.

Chara stepped in front of Frisk as they prepared to walk forward again. “Wait, wait, hold on,” they said. “Let me try something.”

Chara walked forward a couple of steps to where Frisk had just died, and their face lit up. “I think I can sort of feel where the walls are when I walk through them! Come on, follow me,” they said.

Chara carefully led Frisk through the maze step by step as Papyrus, Sans, and Flowey all watched with amazement. It took a couple of minutes, but eventually Frisk emerged on the other side, unscathed. Frisk gave Papyrus a confident smirk while Chara beamed unnoticed next to them, happy to be of service. Flowey and Sans just stared at the human suspiciously.

“Incredible,” Papyrus said, using his relatively indoor voice. “Humans’ senses must be more acute than I initially planned for.” The skeleton smiled wickedly. “Perhaps you are a challenge worthy of my time after all, human. What is your name?”

Wow. Someone actually asked Frisk’s name.

“My name is Frisk,” they smiled brightly. Might as well start trying to charm the skeleton.

“Well then, Frisk,” Papyrus said, “I look forward to seeing how long you’ll last against me. Come, let’s advance to the next challenge.” Papyrus turned towards Sans and frowned. “Should I even bother asking if you set up  _ anything _ in the clearing up ahead, or do I need to set my expectations even lower?”

Sans just smirked. “c’mon, boss you gotta give me a little credit,” he said. “course i set somethin’ up.”

Papyrus merely raised an bone-brow. “Come, Frisk. This should at least be mildly entertaining for the both of us if nothing else,” he said dismissively. Sans looked just a little put-out but didn’t actually say anything. They arrived at the next clearing to see a piece of paper sitting in the snow, and Papyrus gave a long, dramatic sigh.

“When I said  _ puzzle, _ ” Papyrus said, speaking as if he was lecturing a small child, “I thought it would have been obvious that I did not mean  _ crossword puzzle _ . Clearly I need to work on dumbing down my words so you can understand them.”

“aw, c’mon, boss, whaddaya take me for, some kinda barbarian? i’d never stoop that low. nah, i fixed ‘em up with today’s junior jumble,” Sans said.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Papyrus said, deadpan.

“no need to be usin’ them cross words, boss,” Sans chuckled.

Papyrus took a deep breath. “Frisk? Let’s continue before I lose my temper and dust him,” he said. Frisk’s eyes widened just a little.

“hey!” Sans said, grinning like a fiend. “not even gonna try it? that’s a waste of a perfectly good puzzle.”

“So you put itching powder on it, then?” Papyrus asked, walking forward.

Sans’ smile fell and he gave Papyrus a venomous glare. “do you have to ruin fuckin’ everything, papyrus?”

“When it’s immature, pointless, and distracting to our overall goal of killing this human? Yes, Sans, I do,” Papyrus said.

Sans gave Frisk a hostile glare. “then why don’tcha cut through all the bullshit and gut ‘em right here?”

Papyrus smirked just a little. “That would be a waste of some perfectly good puzzles.”

Sans tried to form a retort against the use of his own sass against him, but only managed to come up with some incoherent sputtering. “yeah, whatever,” he grumbled eventually. “you two lovebirds have a nice time. i’m gonna go fuck with grillby again and see if i can get ‘im to break another shotglass on the counter.” Sans vanished from view, and Papyrus just rolled his eyelights dismissively.

“At least the mutt won’t be underfoot,” he sighed, motioning Frisk forward again.

“You wouldn’t… actually dust your own brother, would you?” Frisk asked.

Papyrus raised an eyebrow. “If he got in my way, I would. How did you know we were brothers? I don’t recall telling you.”

“Lucky guess, I guess,” Frisk said, more than a little disturbed. They decided to look at the snow instead of Papyrus.

“I’ve been meaning to ask about your poorly-hidden floral companion there,” Papyrus said, gesturing to their backpack. “It doesn’t seem all that intelligent to rest on the back of someone currently in the process of navigating through a minefield of deadly traps and puzzles.”

Flowey popped out of the backpack, just a little surprised, and looked over Frisk’s shoulder. “I’ve been asking myself the same question,” he said.

“We’re just friends,” Frisk said. Papyrus raised a bone-brow again.

“I realize you are most likely new here, so I will give you a word of advice,” Papyrus said. “It’s unwise to use that kind of language down here.”

“What… do you mean?” Frisk asked.

“Revealing your personal relationships so blatantly is not a smart move,” Papyrus said. “While I consider myself above it, most of the ne’er-do-wells around here wouldn’t hesitate to exploit such a weakness. Use ‘ally’ if you absolutely must, but generally it’s for the best to avoid mentioning the relationship altogether.”

“He’s right, you know,” Flowey said. “At their best the people in Snowdin are assholes and at their worst they’re downright sadistic. The less they know about you, the better.”

“Caring about someone isn’t a weakness,” Frisk said firmly. Papyrus glanced back at them sympathetically, just a little endeared by their resolve.

“Where you come from, maybe not. But here? That kind of talk will get you disemboweled. This is, of course, just advice. You can do what you please,” Papyrus said. 

Frisk gave him a look that bordered on pity. “...Is that why you act like—”

“Ah, we’ve arrived!” Papyrus said, cutting them off. Frisk felt like they were beginning to see a little of the bigger picture here. They took a breath and prepared to face Papyrus’ next puzzle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took so long! I've been struggling to find time to write lately. At least it's up, right?


	12. Dark Mirrors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk rests in Snowed Inn, and Sans helps investigate the attack on the anti-monster rally.

Frisk dodged left, flames grazing their hand, rolled under a giant swinging axeblade, and then dashed through a barrage of crossbow bolts. They only got hit by two, one embedding itself in their thigh and the other slashing across their back. They made one last roll-dodge and staggered to their feet to look up at Papyrus, whose mouth was agape.

“Incredible,” Papyrus said. “You… you made it past my gauntlet of deadly terror. I didn’t think it was possible.”

“Just lucky, I guess,” Frisk said, ripping the crossbow bolt out of their leg with a splash of blood. They weren’t sure they would be able to walk on it; not to mention their pants were being soaked with their own blood. They really,  _ really  _ did not want to try that thing for a fourteenth time.

Papyrus just shook his head, still flabbergasted. “I’ve never met a more worthy opponent. Our final battle will be  _ legendary _ ,” Papyrus grinned wickedly, and Frisk resisted the the urge to groan out loud. If they had to retry that stupid bridge gauntlet every time they had to fight Papyrus…

“Come, Frisk,” Papyrus beckoned. “You’ve earned a respite. I’ll pay for a night at the inn for you, it should prove rejuvenating.”

“You’re not going to fight them right now?” Flowey asked, surprised.

“With them bleeding out and crippled? I’m not a fucking street thug, thank you very much. No, I will not accept either of us being at anything less than our best for this.”

Frisk breathed a sigh of relief as they followed Papyrus to the inn. The innkeeper’s eyes widened as they entered.

“One room, one night. Send them up with a cinnamon bun as well,” Papyrus said, placing a handful of coins on the counter. The innkeeper’s eyes flickered from Frisk to Papyrus and back again.

“S-Sir,” she said, “that’s a-a…”

“I’m well aware,” Papyrus said. “One room. One night. Cinnamon bun. Don’t make me say it a third time.”

The innkeeper shook her head nervously, handed Frisk a cinnamon bun and a room key, and sent them upstairs.

“Just so I am clear,” Papyrus said after they left, “this is, of course, our little secret. Should I find out that you have loose lips, well… I know where you live.”

“O-Of course, Captain Papyrus,” the innkeeper said.

* * *

 

Frisk laid down on the bed gratefully as the healing magic from the cinnamon bun took effect, stitching their mangled body back together. They set Flowey down next to the bed and wrapped themself up in the blankets, happy to be warm again.

“We should take turns keeping watch,” Flowey said.

“Why?” Frisk asked.

Flowey rolled his eyes. “People break into places like this for EXP all the time. You don’t want to be caught off guard when someone’s about to stab you.”

Frisk still looked confused. “Why would someone just… kill people in their sleep for EXP?”

Flowey sighed dramatically. “Look. EXP is an acronym. It stands for--”

“I know what EXP and LV mean,” Frisk said. “I don’t understand why people would want them.”

“It’s the law of the land, idiot,” Flowey said. “Kill or be killed, decreed by King Asgore himself. Survival of the strongest, and EXP makes you stronger. It’s how things work down here.”

“That… that can’t be right,” Frisk said. 

“Don’t know what to tell you, Frisk. I told you they’re all psychopaths. How much LV do you think Papyrus has? I’d say seven, minimum. Maybe all the way up to twelve.”

“How can you tell?” Frisk asked.

“You learn how to read that sort of thing over time,” Flowey said, shrugging his leaves. “Anyway. Do you want first watch or me?”

Frisk thought for a moment. “I’ll take first watch. Go ahead and catch some sleep.”

Flowey gave them a skeptical look. “Alright. Wake me up in a few hours,” he said. He tucked himself into the backpack and after a little while Frisk could hear him snoring quietly.

“Go ahead and get a full night’s rest, Frisk,” Chara said once Flowey was asleep. “I haven’t gotten tired since I woke up back in the Ruins. I don’t think I need sleep as a ghost.”

Frisk gave them a grateful nod and nuzzled into their pillow. Chara sat down on the floor next to Flowey, before looking back up at Frisk. “Hey, Frisk?” they asked quietly. Frisk rolled over and looked down at them, indicating they were listening. Chara looked away. “...Do you hate me?”

Frisk looked away as well. “No,” they whispered. “You’re fine. We’re fine.”

Chara looked back at them. “Then why are you always so nervous around me?”

Frisk sighed. “It’s complicated,” they said.

“I’d still like to know what I’m doing wrong,” Chara said.

“It’s not you,” Frisk said. “...I guess I owe you an explanation. I’m from another world.”

“Another… world?”

“Yes. And in that world, the monsters - Sans, Toriel, Papyrus - I love them. They’re my family. Part of it, anyway.” Chara smiled a little. “The monsters are all so nice there. It’s almost like this place is some sort of… dark mirror of my home. My Toriel is always warm and kind. My Sans’ pranks are all harmless, and he always tries to make everyone laugh. My Papyrus… I don’t think he’s even capable of hurting someone.”

Chara was beginning to catch on. “But your Chara… wasn’t a very good person, were they?”

Frisk looked away again. “They lost their faith in humanity a long time ago. And somewhere along the way, during all the times I kept trying to free the monsters, they lost their faith in monsterkind, too. I’m not sure how much of the real Chara I really met. It was more like… a shadow. Just the hate and anger they left behind.”

“And… you think I’m like them?” Chara asked.

“...No. To be honest, I admire you. Your faith in the monsters seems unshakeable. My faith in people has… wavered before. But not you. It’s just… my Chara had a silver tongue, you could say. They were manipulative. They… convinced me to do things I’m not proud of.”

Chara hopped up on the bed next to them. “I’m so sorry,” they said.

“Not your fault,” Frisk said. “I shouldn’t compare you to them. You’re a different person.”

Chara nodded. “So… why are you all the way out here, then?” they asked.

“You’re standing in one of my failed attempts to free the monsters. In my final… confrontation with Chara, the past timelines got altered. Past, present, future, everything from the places to the people. I had a hand in creating this place, so… it’s my responsibility to give these monsters their freedom.”

“That’s very noble of you,” Chara said. “You’re a good person, Frisk.” Frisk didn’t answer them. “Sorry for keeping you up. Go ahead and get some sleep. I’ll wake you in the morning.”

* * *

 

“Sorry, Alphys, but I’m just not getting anything,” Undyne said, sweeping the machine Alphys had given her around the rubble of the building one last time. It was a magic-tracer or something like that. It was supposed to track magic signatures from monsters or something like that, but the only thing it was picking up was Sans’ blue magic.

“But the fire m-magic signature is still  _ there, _ r-right?” Alphys asked.

“Yeah. But there’s no trail. Just the little blip right here,” Undyne said.

“That d-doesn’t make any sense,” Alphys said. “I-It should track the monster’s i-individual magic signature. A monster’s whole b-body is magic, they c-can’t just switch it off…”

“Don’t know what to tell you, baby,” Undyne sighed. “Whoever this was, they’re good.”

“still no luck?” Sans asked, leaning over Alphys’ shoulder to look at the computer screen.

“No,” Alphys sighed. “I just d-don’t get it.”

An idea coming to him, Sans pulled out his new phone and pulled up his web browser. “text me if you get anything, yeah? i’m gonna try something real quick,” Sans said. He teleported to the other side of town, where another anti-monster rally was being held. He snuck around the side this time, deciding to keep a low profile.

He saw the back door of the building the humans were gathered in front of click shut, and Sans went up to it. He used his blue magic to undo the lock from the inside and slipped into the building.

The lights were all off, but Sans could see a figure hunched over by a nearby wall outlet. Fire blasted out of their fingers quietly like a blowtorch into the socket - clever. It would look like an electrical fire.

“breaking an’ entering’s a crime, pal,” Sans said, and the mystery person spun around. Sans’ eyesockets went wide - this was no monster. This was a human, and… they were wearing a blue jacket identical to Sans’, and their face was half covered with what appeared to be Papyrus’ red scarf.

“what the hell?” Sans said, completely taken by surprise. He was immediately slammed against the wall by… blue magic? as the human ran around a corner. Sans raced after them as soon as he broke free of the telekinetic force, but… he ran straight into a dead end as he rounded the corner. The human was gone.

Sans looked back at the wall socket - they hadn’t been able to start the fire yet, it seemed. He teleported away. The rest of the team needed to hear about whatever the heck that was.


	13. Subtlety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk calls home again, and they get a visit from Underfell Sans.

Chara woke Frisk up bright and early the next morning, and Frisk decided to check in on things back home before waking Flowey. They turned the volume on their phone almost all the way down, and they let Chara stay this time; it was, once again, Sans that answered. He yawned as he looked at the screen.

“aw, hey, buddy! morning,” he said.

“I didn’t wake you up, did I?” Frisk whispered. They could see Chara smiling next to them as they looked at Sans smiling dopily in the sunlight streaming into his room.

“eh, i need to get my tailbone moving anyway. gotta be at work in an hour or so,” Sans said.

“Work? You got a job?” Frisk said.

“yup. i’m helping build some of the new subdivisions the monsters are gonna move into eventually,” he said. “can’t say it’s exactly my dream job, but uh… it pays the bills for now. why are we whispering, by the way?”

“Trying not to wake Flowey yet,” Frisk said. “Is everything okay at home?”

“they’ve been… interesting, you could say,” Sans said.

“Are the humans giving you trouble?” Frisk asked.

“nothing we can’t handle,” Sans sighed. “good ‘ol sheriff courtney and deputy undyne have done a pretty bang-up job keeping everyone safe and level-headed. honestly, the worst i’ve gotten in a while are some ugly glares and petty insults. though, uh… there was one weird thing that happened.”

“What?” Frisk asked.

“...eh, don’t worry about it. you’ve got plenty on your plate already. we got things under control on our side, buddy. what about you? how’s universe number 2 coming along?”

“We need better names for them,” Frisk sighed.

“have something in mind?” Sans asked.

“Well… I was kind of thinking about calling home Undertale,” Frisk said.

“undertale, huh?”

“Yeah, you know, because I fell underground and then… it turned into a story, and… never mind.”

“no, i like it. sounds cool. what about where you are now?”

Frisk thought for a moment. “Underfell,” they replied.

Sans chuckled. “kinda edgy-sounding, don’t you think?”

“This place has earned it,” Frisk said, and Sans’ smile dropped a little.

“hey… are you holding up alright?” Sans asked. “have you, uh… run into underfell-me and paps yet?”

“I’m in Snowed Inn right now,” Frisk said. “And yeah, I’ve run into them.”

“you, uh… don’t seem too thrilled about it. he finally get you sick of puns?”

“...I don’t think either of us would get his sense of humor,” Frisk said. “And Papyrus is…”

“a lot?” Sans finished for them.

“You could say that. He doesn’t mess around, that’s for sure. And his traps are… very well-made.”

“...oh,” Sans said.

Frisk sighed. “I… should probably get going. Papyrus is expecting me,” Frisk said.

“hey,” Sans said, getting serious for a moment. “since, uh… since it seems you’re having trouble making new pals over there… you remember that ‘phone a friend’ thing alphys put in your phone, right? you can call one of us over.”

“No, no,” Frisk said. “I’ll be fine. I don’t want to keep interrupting your lives.”

“frisk,” Sans said. “we _owe_ you this whole surface life. you ain’t interrupting nothing. besides, i miss ya like crazy, pal! some days i still wake up thinking i’m gonna get to hang with you for the day and then i remember you ain’t here. if you need me, you let me know. got it?”

“...Got it,” Frisk said.

“good. i’ll let ya get back to it, then. see ya.”

“Bye,” Frisk said, hanging up.

“I can see why you like him so much,” Chara said, smiling.

“Flowey,” Frisk said, shaking their backpack gently. Flowey blearily opened his eyes.

“Is it my watch?” he said.

“Nope. It’s morning. I fell asleep during my shift, sorry,” Frisk said, and Chara smiled knowingly.

“What?! I told you about— grrrrr!” Flowey threw his leaves up in the air as if they were hands. “Whatever. Let’s hurry up and get to dying repeatedly from Papyrus,” Flowey said.

“Come on, Flowey, let’s try a little more optimism than that,” Frisk said. They opened the door and nearly fell over backward when they found Sans standing there, picking at his sharpened teeth with his pinky.

“mornin’ there, dollface,” he said, letting himself into the room before he sat down on the bed. “sleep alright?”

“Don’t call me that,” Frisk said. “What do you want, Sans?”

“wake up on the wrong side of the bed, _dollface_? and here i thought we were pals,” Sans said.

There was just something about this guy that made Frisk want to punch him in his bony face, but they resisted the urge. They were here to make friends, not enemies. Even if some of those friends to be were… infuriating.

“It’s great to see you again, Sans, but Papyrus is expecting me and I really should get going.” Frisk turned around to leave, but the door glowed red and locked shut in their face.

“that plan might be bad for your health there, dollface,” Sans said. “but it’s your funeral. course, i probably ain’t one to be lecturing ya about health.” He pulled out a cigarette from… somewhere and lit it. He took a long drag off of it. ...How did that even work with no lungs?

“you know, you’re a pretty interestin’ human,” Sans said casually, releasing a puff of smoke from is mouth. “i mean, pretty much all you human-types are soft and squishy and just all around pretty easy to tear apart, but you? you got one fucking level of violence. i don’t know how you got through the boss’ puzzles like that,” he said.

“Why do you call him ‘boss’?” Frisk asked, deciding they might as well make this conversation productive. They could use all the help they could get with talking Papyrus down later. “He’s your brother.”

“that ain’t any of your business,” Sans said, taking another drag of his cigarette. Frisk took a deep breath. This Sans was so very unhelpful. “so tell me, dollface. what kinda special sauce have you got cookin’ up that lets you parade through death traps like they’re carnival rides?”

“Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong,” Frisk countered, unable to resist snarking him a little.

“see, i ain’t got no nose to stick nowhere, dollface,” Sans snickered, unfazed. Frisk had walked right into that one. “well, anyway… since you’re clearly more of a lover than a fighter, i thought i might offer ya a little proposition,” he said. “instead of going out there and gettin’ disemboweled, why don’tcha just stay in here? we can, uh… have a _different_ kinda fun, and then i’ll get ya straight past the boss.” He laid back on the bed and crossed his arms behind his head, smirking.

Frisk’s face immediately blushed bright red. “I’ll take my chances with Papyrus, thank you,” they said. Yes, maybe they were a little flirtatious, but they were never _that_ forward. They crossed their arms self-consciously.

Sans just shrugged, though he looked just a little bit aggravated. “suit yourself,” he said, getting up and taking another drag. “if that’s the case, then let me give ya one last piece of advice. now, you’re gonna die out there. that’s pretty much a guarantee. and normally i wouldn’t even bother saying this because you have literally _no_ chance against him. but, since you seem to be oh-so _special_ — here’s something important to remember.”

Sans walked closer and closer, eventually backing Frisk up against the door as he leaned in menacingly. “on the off chance you don’t explode within the first five seconds, and you manage to get close enough to hit him - or, for the sake of argument, let’s say kill him - and you _do_ , well… that might be even worse for your health than jus’ lettin’ him skewer ya.” Sans blew out a puff of smoke straight into Frisk’s face, and they started coughing violently, closing their eyes. When they opened them again, Sans was gone.

“I _told_ you that guy is a freak,” Flowey told them, glancing around the room.

“Let’s just go find Papyrus,” Frisk sighed. “I don’t want to be late. I’ve already made a good impression so far, I think, so now I just need to knock it out of the park with this battle.”

“We’ll see,” Flowey said. “Still not gonna fight him, though?”

“Never,” Frisk said. “I have a good feeling about this. I think I can get through to him… after a few tries.

“It’s going to be more than a few,” Flowey said, rolling his eyes. “Do me a favor and drop me on the ground before you start dying repeatedly.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Flowey,” Frisk sighed. This was going to be a long day.


	14. It's a Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk battles Papyrus.

“You know, Papyrus, that outfit really suits you. You have a really nice spine,” Frisk said with a wink, dodging a wave of bones by a hair’s breadth. Papyrus wasn’t even trying to go easy on them this time around. His bone attacks hit like a train. Frisk found themself wishing they had more HP. A lot more HP.

Instead of getting flustered like Frisk had hoped he would get, Papyrus merely smirked. “You really should be focusing more on Fighting instead of Flirting, but I suppose it can’t be helped. I  _ am _ extremely attractive, after all. You’ll have to forgive my bluntness when I say your outfit isn’t quite as becoming, however. You should show off some more skin instead of hiding under a sweater. I’m sure you’re quite attractive yourself with how athletic you appear to be.”

Frisk found their face turning red. No one ever turned their flirtation  _ back  _ on them. “U-Um… The sweater’s… for warmth. It’s cold here.” They shouted in pain as a bone pierced their shoulder.

“Mmm, I forgot that you are likely more sensitive to extremes in temperature. Still, it is a shame. Now clearly your distraction tactics are proving ineffective, so are you finally going to begin your attack?”

“I’m not gonna fight you, Papyrus,” Frisk said, ripping the bone from their shoulder and rolling out of the way of another barrage of attacks.

“...If you’re hoping to exhaust me, you are going to be sorely disappointed. Clearly my stamina outmatches yours. Your only hope of winning this battle is to attack me. Come now, human, I thought you were smarter than this,” Papyrus said.

“I’m not fighting you, Papyrus,” Frisk said, trying to catch their breath. This was the first time they’d actually survived the first turn and they wanted to make the most of it.

“...Excuse me?” That one did seem to trip Papyrus up a bit and his next attack was slightly easier to dodge. Slightly.

“I don’t want to fight you,” Frisk reiterated. “I like you too much, Papyrus! You’re a good friend. We don’t need to kill each other!”

“I told you about using that language!” Papyrus growled. The next attack went straight through Frisk’s head. Well, drat.

* * *

 

“I don’t want to fight you,” Frisk said. “I like you too much, Papyrus! I think you and I could be… um… really good allies! We don’t need to kill each other!”

“You and me, allies? A ridiculous notion,” Papyrus scoffed.

“But it’s not! You’re so strong and brave and cool and smart… who  _ wouldn’t  _ want to be your ally? Not to mention dashing.” They threw in a wink.

“I am well aware of how incredible  _ I _ am human,” Papyrus said, “but I fail to see the benefit an allegiance with  _ you _ would grant  _ me.” _

...Shoot. Frisk was so used to their Papyrus craving attention that they hadn’t really thought about that. “Um… well I’m a human for starters,” they said.

“Indeed. A human, which I am tasked with hunting and delivering to the king. A human, a member of the race we tried to conquer so long ago - a human, a member of the race that locked my kind under Mount Ebott. An allegiance with you would pit me against the entire monster race, and while I am a formidable fighter as you can see, I do have my limits.” Papyrus threw another flurry of sharpened bones at Frisk and this time it grazed their sides, leaving a number of nasty gashes as they tried to process this new information. So the monsters had started the war in this universe.. 

Frisk held their side, trying to slow the bleeding. They’d run out of items. “W-Well… maybe, but… I just can’t fight you! I won’t! And I know deep down somewhere that you don’t want to fight me either. Please, Papyrus, we don’t have to do this!”

“...You’re really that enamored with me, are you?” Papyrus asked.

“...Y-Yes! I just can’t bring myself to try and hurt you, Papyrus, you’re just too amazing.” Frisk was just desperate to find something that worked at this point.

Papyrus squinted at them suspiciously. “Are you proposing a date, human?”

“Yes! That’s exactly what I’m saying!” Frisk realized that this Papyrus might take the dating thing a little more seriously than their Papyrus would, but they couldn’t figure out any other way to get out of this battle.

“...Hmm,” Papyrus said, launching another wave of bones. “Alright. Color me intrigued. Let’s make a deal - survive another fifty turns to prove you’re worth my time and I will agree to one date. Fair?”

Frisk felt their eye twitch. Fifty turns.  _ Fifty _ turns? “...Absolutely!” They said, all the while screaming internally. They looked down at their stomach to see they’d been impaled once again.

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

 

Frisk fell to their knees, barely able to breathe. After loading a large number of times, they’d finally survived the extra fifty turns. ...Unless they’d miscounted. For the love of everything good  _ please _ let that have been fifty turns.

Papyrus reached up and dabbed a single bead of sweat off of his skull with a finger. He looked down at it, as if thinking. “I will admit, human, your skill at dodging is as impressive as your skill in puzzlery. Perhaps you may be worthy of my affections after all.”

“Th… Thanks,” Frisk panted.

“...It appears you could use some refreshment. Unfortunately the only restaurant in Snowdin is deplorable and the closest one of any acceptable quality is in Hotland, so my house is probably the best location for our date. Is this acceptable?”

“Um… yeah,” Frisk said, shakily getting to their feet.

“My home is this way, then. Follow me.”

Papyrus led them to his home; it was much less festive looking than it was in Undertale, accented with spikes and danger signs rather than Christmas lights and pirate flags. He motioned for them to sit on the couch and walked into the kitchen.

Now the question became whether or not Frisk could navigate through this new situation unscathed. Their hopes immediately faltered when Papyrus returned from the kitchen carrying a steaming plate of spaghetti.

“If you overheard my earlier conversation with Sans, I assure you there is no drain cleaner in my pasta sauce,” Papyrus said, apparently noticing the look of distaste on Frisk’s face.

“Oh, um, I believe you,” Frisk said, taking the plate and steeling themself. They hoped this wouldn’t kill them. They twirled their fork around on the plate and slowly brought a forkful of spaghetti to their mouth.

This… was actually incredible.

“Well?” Papyrus asked.

“This is the best pasta I’ve ever had in my life,” Frisk said, and they meant it. Perfectly cooked, seasoned, with a twist of something Frisk couldn’t quite place bringing it all together. They started shoveling it into their mouth.

“Well of course it is,” Papyrus said. “I will admit that I have made some… interesting mistakes on occasion, but I have honed my cooking talents over the course of years.” He waited for Frisk to finish their spaghetti before continuing. “Now, human - what shall we do first on our date?’

Frisk had almost forgotten about that. “Um… well, I’d love to look around your house. You seem to have put a lot of effort into the decor.”

“I have, actually,” Papyrus said, clearly enjoying the praise. “Let’s start with the kitchen, yes?”

Papyrus led Frisk around the house, narrating about everything in sight. The comedic elements were almost entirely absent - no pet rock, no ridiculously tall sink, no quantum physics joke book. Just surprisingly tasteful decorations and a large portrait of a bone. That hadn’t changed.

“...What are those two rooms upstairs?” Frisk said, pointing.

“The one on the right is less a room and more of a pigsty where Sans sleeps. The one on the left is my bedroom.”

“Can we go see your room?” Frisk asked.

Papyrus gave them a skeptical look. “You want… to go into my bedroom. On a first date.”

Frisk’s eyes widened. “N-Not like that! I just figured your room would be you, know, really cool since you’re really cool, and… um…”

Papyrus laughed loudly. “Oh, human, for intelligent as you are at puzzles you are quite naive, aren’t you? Very well. You may see my room.”

Frisk breathed a sigh of relief as they headed up the stairs after Papyrus. Things seemed to be going pretty well for once.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~~~  
>  Dear lord it's been so long since I updated this  
> 
> 
> Whew. I'm not gonna make any irresponsible promises about regular updates, but I really do wanna continue with this story. I just had a serious case of writer's block, other projects I wanted to pursue, the start of college, etc... life just gets away from you, you know? Anyway, for anyone who's actually still interested in this story, have a chapter.


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